Curriculum innovation at the research-intensive university

Greetings from the last day of ASCILITE 2023 in Christchurch, where Dr Elisa Bone, Melbourne University is speakin on "More than the sum of its parts: reflections on a networked program supporting curriculum innovation at a research-intensive university". This is especially relevant to where I work at ANU. 

Dr Bone described how UOM planned a hub & spoke model, with instructional designers outposts. This brought central units and faculties together. Now they have triads of education fellows, developers & video production staff.

ps: At the break after I was in a discussion wil som of the ASCILITE MLSig of the influence of SC fi on mobile devices. This reminded me of the not quite real Milesham Organisation.

Flat-pack Learning Analytics

Greetings from ASCILITE 2023 where Leah Macfadyen just spoke on 'The “IKEA Model” for Pragmatic Development of a Customizable Learning Analytics'. The idea is a kit of code to do analysis from the learning management system, in this case Canvas. 

I spent the session wondering where I knew the speaker from. Perhaps when I gatecrashed a UBC staff meeting nine years ago.

Making sense of Learning Designer skills

Greetings from ASCILITE 2023, where Assoc Prof Gilmore from RMIT is talking on an international analysis of qalifications and skills asked for Learning Designers. These are people who help academics and academics produce courses. This is relatively new in school and university systems, but more common in vocational education.

Being effective is authentic

Greetings from ASCILITE 2023 in Christchurch, where David White, Dean of Academic Strategy (Online) at University of the Arts London, and President of the Association of Learning Technology, is speaking on "Being effective isn’t authentic: Building digital education culture". So far I am finding the talk annoying. Like many speakers in the last few years he talked about how well educational institutions did switching to online education and how important this was. I have no problem with that, but online learning was not a new thing these institutions stumbled across. Institutions and individual spent decades working on e-learning, including for deployment in an emergency, including an epidemic. 

Something I agreed with more that university staff's ideal student is one who lives nearby (or on campus), attends, and structures their life around their studies. This is also not a new thing. Distance education has provided for students who can't get to campus, and want an education to improve their life, not a lifestyle. This was thoroughly explored with the founding of the Open University. 

David White suggested the wish of employers to have staff return to the office, and academics have students back was power, not efficient work or learning. I suggest it is not necessarily that Machiavellian, it is just that this is what they are used to. If you spent your formative years in meetings, or lectures, then that is all you know and trust. A few months forced online in had hoc arrangements is not necessarily going to change your views. In contrast I was trained, educated and mentored online, to teach online, so this seems normal and natural. 

David White  ended by suggesting thinking of universities as "Digital institutions that also own buildings". I suggesting dropping "digital", as the virtual university was possible, and existed in the age of paper mail. This was discussed, at length, in Robert M. Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". 

ASCILITE 2023 Day One

Kia ora tātou from ASCILITE 2023, in Tthe e Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, New Zealand and online. Unlike some organisations which abandoned the online option asap, ASCILITE has stuck with it. This is my first ASCILITE in person, although I have been a joint author on papers before, and presented via Zoom. I joined the ASCILITE Mobile Learning Special Interest Group (MLSig), in 2020, as a way to connect to people during the COVID-19 pandemic. I found myself drawn into ASCILITE, joining and attending conferences. 

ASCILITE went to considerable efforts to make virtual delegates feel part of the event. One way is to use the same app for Q&A in the room and online.

Due to the time zone differences I woke up early this morning and was listening to ABC Radio via their App. There was a discussion of how to get a job. When it got to soft skills, I called in (using VoWiFi) to talk about the students I teach. Now I am in a room of people who I feel to be my gang (my other gang are the computer professionals). 

The conference center is a short walk from where I am staying at the YHA Christchurch Backpackers. This was recently refurbished and only reopened last week. It happens to be across the road from the 1877 School of Arts, where some of the pre-conference workshops were held. This is now an art gallery, cinema, maker spaces, restaurant, and yes, they still teach art.

Best of ASCILITE 2023

The 

Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, 
Photo by Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education ASCILITE 2023 Conference starts next week at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. I have to make difficult choice as to which of the parallel sessions to attend, and the luxury of not having to present (although I expect I will have to chair something). 

MONDAY 4 DECEMBER

0845 - 1000 Plenary - Rakaia Room
0930 -1030 Keynote address: Being effective isn’t authentic: Building digital education culture David White

1030-1100 Morning Tea + Poster Viewing

11:00 AM Conway 4, Assoc Prof Dawn Gilmore, Academic Director, RMIT Online

Qualifications, Interpersonal Skills, and Career Pathways: Building a Competency-Based Tool for the Recruitment and Career Development of Learning Designers

1:30 PM Rakaia Room Dr Shannon Rios, Lecturer, The University of Melbourne

Authorship Verification in Software Engineering Education: Forget ChatGPT and Focus on Students' Academic Writing Profiles

3:40 PM Conway 4 Dr Kashmira Dave, Lecturer, Academic Development, University of New England

Beyond Appearances: Unveiling the Hidden Biases in Hiring Academics in Australian Universities

ps: I will be in and around the 3 to 6 December. Happy to catch up with people, and give a talk, if someone has an audience and venue. 

In Christchurch NZ for ASCILITE 2023 3 to 6 December

Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, 
Photo by Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

What is there to do in Christchurch in December? I will be in and around the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, 3 to 6 December for the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education ASCILITE 2023 Conference. I don;t have a paper to give, just a Mobile Learning Special Interest Group (MLSIG) session to contribute to. Happy to catch up with people, and give a talk, if someone has an audience and venue.