TechUplift25: Empowering Cyber Security through AI-driven Capability

I just registered for TechUplift25: Empowering Cyber Security through AI-driven Capability, being run by the Australian Computer Society at the Hyatt Canberra, 26 June 2025. Ironically, this morning Facebook blocked my access, requiring me to prove I was human.

Delays in Live Streamed Video Can Cause Problems for Clicker Quizzes

Livia Lam, & Tom Worthington,
hosting the Govhack 2022 Trivia, 
still from livestream, 20 August 2022

For months I have been taking part in weekly video conferences, helping prepare Govhack 2022. During that time I managed to avoid taking on more roles that the one I volunteered for: Government & Education Liaison. But during the last meeting before the event my video link stopped, & when I reconnected I discovered I was the co-host, Livia Lam, for the streamed Trivia event. We did this from a classroom at Torrens University's Sydney CDB campus. The format was much as used for live classroom quizzes, as was the technology used. 

Myself and the co-host were on Zoom, which was relayed to a Facebook live stream. The participants used a QR code to get to the software asking the questions. One problem was the delay of several seconds between us speaking, and when we were heard. The application used for the questions did not have the delay, so the questions we were reading out were after the participants had already answered. The delay was longer than just with Zoom, as the video then had to go via Facebook's system. Perhaps the makers of the quiz system could build a delay into it. 

Send Facebook Executives to Jail for Promoting Contract Cheating Services?

Offering to write a university students' work for them has been illegal in Australia since 2020. However, when I asked Facebook to take down a post promoting such a service to Canberra students, they refused.

Perhaps it is time for TEQSA, who administer the law, to prosecute Facebook. The financial penalty is only $100,000 but the possibility of a two year jail sentence might get the attention of Facebook executives. 

What Facebook replied:

"We didn't take down ***'s post

We know that this is not what you wanted, and we thought it might help if we explain how the review process works.

Our technology helps us review reports first. This means that we can find content that goes against our Community Standards quickly and reply to people in a reasonable period of time. Some reports, such as those that might contain child exploitation, are prioritised for review by our team.

Our technology reviewed your report and, ultimately, we decided not to take the content down. If you think that we've made a mistake, you can request another review. We'll use what you've sent us to improve the technology and the reporting experience.

We understand that the content may be offensive or hurtful. Facebook is a global community, and people express themselves differently, but we only take down content that goes against our standards. We review and update our standards regularly, with the help of experts.

Thank you for helping to keep Facebook safe and welcoming for everyone."

Contract Cheating Service Promoted by Facebook

Recently I reported a Facebook post which was promoting a contract cheating service. Facebook replied that this did not go against their "Community Standards". I asked for a review and Facebook confirmed it met their standards. However, contract cheating is prohibited by Australian law, with a penalty of up to two years gaol and $100,000 fine. The service does not have to be provided from within Australia for the law to apply. The law applies to advertising the service, as well as providing it. It would be up to a court to determine if by knowingly profiting from the promotion of such services Facebook is in breech of Australia law and if its executives should serve gaol time.

What Social Media can do for Universities

The topic for the next ANU Collegiate Lunch in Canberra on 7 August 2013, is What can the 'social media' do for us?", with myself leading the discussion. The "us" in this case is academia. For those at university, the idea of virtual communities should not be a new one.

Academia is a Virtual Community

Academics have used publications, correspondence and meetings to keep in touch with remote colleagues. Use of the Internet and the web has made this scholarly communication easier. At the same time the cheaper and easier access to information has challenged the role of the university and of the academic.

In the past academics were rated on their ability to get information published, but now anyone can publish and read for almost free on-line. You don't have to visit a university to read a journal and don't have to have the institution behind you to have your work published.

Creating and maintaining virtual communities still required effort and also new skills. I am frequently asked how "young people", "students" and "early career academics" can be encouraged to take part in events. The concern is that these people are not coming to old fashioned lectures, seminars, symposium, meetings and conferences.

Flip the Symposium

My preferred solution to the problem of a lack of attendance is to "flip" the event. The term comes from the "flipped classroom", where students study the material on their own and then get together in a classroom for group activities. The idea is that group time is too valuable to be wasted on everyone just passively listening to one person talking.

Research shows that student learn much better when actively engaged in doing something. Presumably this also applies to academic discourse. Rather than just sitting in the conference listening, they can be doing something active.

A new mode for conferences is to provide the papers and presentations in advance. The face-to-face time of the conference (if there is one) can then be mostly devoted to discussion. An example of this is the "Global Conference on Research Integration and Implementation". This will be held at the ANU in Canberra, 8 to 11 September 2013, but posters for the event are already up on-line.

Even when there is a formal presentation, the audience can be discussing the topic on-line at the same time. Some of the "Bar Camp" style events I attend have a twitter hash tag for the conference and encourage delegates to use it during presentations. This can be confronting for the presenter, who may have a display of the stream of discussion appearing behind them, as they speak. But this does make for a more lively format.

Social Media is a Skill to be Learned

It need to be kept in mind that using social media requires some practice and considerable effort. It is a mistake to assume you can simply create a Twitter hash-tag and the job is done. Also the aim and measures of success need to be adjusted. Having an on-line discussion may attract people to a face-to-face event, but some will be happy with just the on-line component and not turn up.

The rapid pace of on-line discussion can be frightening for those used to the leisurely pace of paper correspondence and annual conferences. If you advise something is available on-line, you had better make sure it is, or there will be complaints. It is very easy to leave the discussion on a Friday afternoon and find on Monday morning that chaos has broken out over the weekend.

The use of social media is something that university students should learn, along with how to write a paper, as part of their basic degree education. Those intending to have a career in research, university teaching or industry will need to know how to collaborate and mentor on-line. For that I have proposed “Incorporating Professional Skills in the ANU Master of Computing” and this could be extended to all ANU degree programs.

Current Use of Social Media at ANU

Keep in mind that using "social media" does not necessarily require the use of Twitter, Facebook, or some other commercial product. You might want to have your students in a "walled garden" where their information is confined to the institution or just the class.

ANU Alliance is a forum for ANU staff and students implemented using Sakai open source software. Also forums are provided in the Moodle Learning Management system for students to discuss course topics. For more general discussion Yammer is used by staff.

It can be difficult to convince academics that they need to learn how to communicate, so I have proposed we get them while they are young and teach professional on-line skills to postgraduate students.

Propose Crowd-Sourcing ANU Policy

Social media can be used to help run a university, as well as in teaching. Universities have a tradition of consulting their staff, students and the community on what they do and how they do it. However, as universities get larger this consultation becomes more difficult. The ANU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ian Young, is reported to have recently said:

"The University has hundreds of policies, and to create a formal consultation process in the development of such policies would be a huge administrative overhead that would slow down the process and add significant cost." From: ANU revises investment policy, Matthew Raggatt, Canberra Times, 18 July 2013

However, I suggest the use of social media would allow staff, students and the community to be consulted with minimal administrative overhead, quickly and at low cost. In this way policy can be in part "crowd-sourced".

This is not to say that every decision will be put to a public vote, but as was done recently over budget cuts, the wider university community can be consulted. Rather than set up an ad-hoc process for each consultation, the ANU could implement a system for routine and ongoing consultation, via the Internet.

An example of where such consultation would be useful is the contentious issue of ANU's investment policy.The group Fossil Free ANU proposes a move away from investing in fossil fuel. However, more would be needed for a ethical investment policy and corporate social responsibility.

Pia Waugh at the Department of Finance initiated two short courses for public servants on "Online engagement". I talked at one of these and the same tools and techniques are applicable to universities.

ANU offers courses covering social media, including "Science Communication and the Web" (SCOM8012), "Online Research Methods" (DEMO8087) and "Environmental Policy and Communications" (EMDV8007).
Charles Sturt University (CSU) offer a course in "Social Networking for Information Professionals" (INF506), as part of their Master of Education in Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation (which I am considering enrolling in).

Recent Research on Social Media in Education

For some recent Australian research on social media for education, see:

1.  McGuckin, T., & Sealey, R. (2013). Integrating Facebook into a University cohort to enhance student sense of belonging: a pilot program in Sport and Exercise Science.. Australian Educational Computing, 28(1). Retrieved from http://ojs.acce.cc.com.au/index.php/AEC/article/view/13
2. Stevens, T. (2013). Who you know and what you know: Student interaction in online discussions. Australian Educational Computing, 28(1). Retrieved from http://ojs.acce.cc.com.au/index.php/AEC/article/view/6