T E A C H I N GA N D L E A R N I N G

S Y M P O S I U ML E A R N I N G I N T H E D I G I T A L A G E

P u s h i n g t h e B o u n d a r i e s

9 A M – 4 P MM O N D A Y 2 9 J U N E 2 0 1 5

J O H N S C O T T M E E T I N G H O U S E M E L B O U R N E C A M P U S

w w w . l a t r o b e . e d u . a u / e v e n t s / a l l / t l - s y m p o s i u m

T E AC H I N G A N D L E A R N I N GS Y M P O S I U M

9 A M – 4 P M | M O N D A Y 2 9 J U N E 2 0 1 5

8.30amRegistration

9amWelcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin

9.10amWelcome by Professor Betty Leask

9.20amWelcome by Professor Jane Long: introducing keynote speaker,

Associate Professor Shane Dawson

9.30amKeynote address by Associate Professor Shane Dawson

10.15amMorning Tea

10.45amSecond Keynote: Associate Professor Phillip Dawson

11.45amWorkshops: Session One

12.30pmLunch and College Awards Ceremony at Glenn College Dining Hall

2pmWorkshops: Session Two

3pmWorkshops: Session Three

3.45pmClosing remarks and thanks by Professor Betty Leask

with drinks

4.15pmEvent concludes

L E A R N I N G I N T H E D I G I T A L A G EP u s h i n g t h e B o u n d a r i e s

J O H N S C O T T M E E T I N G H O U S E | G L E N N C O L L E G E

A Tale of Two Constructs: Understanding Learning Analytics

AdoptionAssociate Professor Shane Dawson

2pm & 3pm Stan Oates Room, Glenn College

Learning Analytics (‘LA’) has been touted as a game changer for education. The rapidly growing literature associated with the field serves to promote this fervour in citing the vast impact LA can and will play in the education space. From the detection of at-risk students to address retention and performance, building self-regulated learning, development and identification of 21st Century literacies to the realisation of personalised learning, there appears little that LA cannot contribute to within learning and teaching practice. However, if LA is such an impactful, desirable and worthy endeavour that can effectively improve learning, and our understanding of the learning process, why are there so few examples of institutional LA adoption? This presentation will Provide insights into the complexity of LA adoption for higher education institutions along with ways institutions have overcome common barriers. The discussion draws on the findings from a national study investigating institutional learning analytics practice examining the successes, directions, challenges and barriers impeding analytics deployment.

Designing Assessment for Digital Learning with the Assessment

Design Decisions FrameworkAssociate Professor Phillip Dawson

11.45am & 2pm Seminar Room 5, Glenn College

The shift to digital learning Provides an opportunity to rethink our assessment practices. There is strong evidence that if we just copy/paste our current teaching and assessment into the digital environment we can, at best, expect no improvement learning outcomes. However if we use this as an opportunity for redesign we may achieve assessments that are more authentic, sustainable and rigorous. In this interactive workshop you will work through the Assessment Design Decisions framework and (re)design your assessment for digital learning. The ADD framework has been developed from a national OLT Project that explored the gritty ‘chalkface’ realities of everyday university assessment, and connected them to rigorous assessment evidence and expertise. Workshop facilitator Associate Professor Phillip Dawson was co-lead of the Assessment Design Decisions Project.

T E AC H I N G A N D L E A R N I N GS Y M P O S I U M

9 A M – 4 P M | M O N D A Y 2 9 J U N E 2 0 1 5

Wicked Issues in Educational TechnologyDr Michael Henderson

11.45am | Airport Lounge, Glenn College

What would happen if we stopped pretending that technologies were solutions to teaching or learning? Education is a ‘wicked problem’, that is, something that resists any simple intervention. Technologies simply add to the ‘wicked’ complexity. While satisfying one need, another pops up. Any leadership strategy, educational development initiative, or teaching approach that adopts a ‘silicon bullet’ model inevitably misses the target entirely. Digital technologies cannot be simply parachuted from one lecture to the next to solve problems or improve outcomes. In this session, I will propose that the use of digital technologies in education result in ‘wicked problems’ that are best tackled with a degree of playfulness by the institution and educators. Our recent OLT Strategic Commissioned Project on Technology Enabled Learning surveyed 2800 staff and students including 85 senior leaders from all 39 Australian Universities. This project amply demonstrated that successful technology enabled learning invariably involves a broad range of ‘conditions for success’. This session will tap into several of these conclusions to suggest that adopting a design thinking approach to education is a far more Productive approach – albeit with considerable challenges for institutions and educators.

Improving Student Retention: Separating the Hype from the HopeDr Grace Lynch

11.45am | Stan Oates Room, Glenn College

The importance placed on student retention in the higher education sector has seen the emergence of a variety of strategies and technologies that focus on identifying and supporting students ‘at risk’. This has also resulted in a number of commercial software and services primarily focused on predictive modelling of student data for cohort and characteristic (both demographic and behavioural) identification. Unfortunately the hype of many of these systems and services have not lived up to the hope challenging the current understandings of retention. This presentation will discuss a number of strategies, technologies and interventions focused on improving student engagement with each other, the content and the tutors in order to increase success for all students.

J O H N S C O T T M E E T I N G H O U S E | G L E N N C O L L E G E

L E A R N I N G I N T H E D I G I T A L A G EP u s h i n g t h e B o u n d a r i e s

Designing for Student Success in Digital Learning EnvironmentsDr Darien Rossiter

2pm and 3pm | Davidson Room, Glenn College

The notable trend in recent years to more blended and online learning has challenged the efficacy of the initial formats, which largely ‘converted’ face-to-face teaching practices and materials for use in digital environments. Engaging and effective learning in digital spaces calls for a rethinking or ‘re-imagining’ of course design and development, and requires careful consideration of the choices about pedagogy, assessment, technologies and student support. This workshop will use a student-centred learning framework, created for online learning environments, to assist in course planning and to stimulate discussion about the principles, design elements and choices which impact student learning outcomes and the overall student experience. Examples of innovative and good practice will be shared and participants will be invited to exchange ideas and examples from their own practice.

Assessment Strategies for Learning in the Digital AgeProfessor Carmel McNaught

11.45am | Davidson Room, Glenn College3pm | Seminar Room 5, Glenn College

Assessment should provide evidence of student learning across all the desired learning outcomes. The Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) framework provides an elegant way to check the appropriateness of assessment tasks and to set up useful criteria for marking them. In the SOLO exercises in this session, issues about the reliability of marking of written work will also be explored. We will also consider a number of assessment strategies that involve the use of technology, and look at ways in which assessment tasks can become more interesting and more meaningful to students. Finally, we will explore how to use technology in peer assessment in ways that engage students, support learning – and, very importantly, reduce teacher workload.

Making Blended Learning a Reality: From Design to PracticeTam Nguyen

2pm and 3pm | Airport Lounge, Glenn College

So what is blended anyway? Is it simply videos online, or is there more to it? How do we add value to the learning and teaching experience through effective blended design? This workshop will unpack the components of blended learning, and discuss some of the issues that concern lecturers in the development of their subjects and courses. We will investigate design tactics and processes, based on principles of agile design thinking, and develop a structure for defining thresholds of blended learning. This is a practical workshop, aimed specifically for those who want to understand what it means to design for a blended mode. Participants are encouraged to share their experiences with blended learning, and take part in the workshop activities.

T E AC H I N G A N D L E A R N I N GS Y M P O S I U M

9 A M – 4 P M | M O N D A Y 2 9 J U N E 2 0 1 5

Associate Professor Shane Dawson is the (Acting) Director of the Learning and Teaching Unit at the University of South Australia. Shane’s research focuses on of social network analysis and learner ICT interaction data to inform and benchmark teaching and learning quality. Shane is a founding executive member of the Society for Learning Analytics Research and past conference chair of the International Learning Analytics and Knowledge conference. He is a co-developer of SNAPP an open source social network visualization tool designed for teaching staff to better understand, identify and evaluate student learning, engagement, academic performance and creative capacity.

Associate Professor Phillip Dawson (Phill) is Associate Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University. His most recent completed OLT project developed the Assessment Design Decisions framework (assessmentdecisions.org), which assists academics in navigating the complexity of assessment design. Phill’s assessment research is diverse, encompassing exam hacking; the tortured history of assessment; and the strategies university teachers use to make changes to assessment despite bureaucracy. He has a decade of teaching experience in higher education, for which he has received multiple Vice-Chancellors’ awards and a citation from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

Dr Michael Henderson spends most of his time being enjoyably frustrated with the ‘wicked problem’ of educational technology. Michael is senior researcher in Educational Technology in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. He researches in the field of eLearning and teaches postgraduate studies in digital instructional design and critical thinking around ‘edtech’. Over the past decade he has provided expert advice to Australian and international agencies in the field of eLearning, cybersafety and assessment. Michael’s research ranges from early childhood to tertiary settings, and has ranged across virtual learning environments, virtual worlds, social media including the risks of teaching with social network sites, the role of data in schools, and technology based feedback. Michael is a lead editor for the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology and is a foundation member of the ‘Learning with New Media Research Group’, which provides leadership in rigorous empirical research into teaching and learning and the roles of technologies. He is currently editing a book for Cambridge University Press on ‘Teaching and Digital Technologies: critical issues and big ideas.’

Dr Grace Lynch (BA, BEd, MEd, PhD) is Managing Director, Lynch & Associates and has over 30 years of experience in Australia, Asia and North America. During her career she gained practical expertise while teaching at the primary, secondary, college and university levels. Grace, an international scholar and highly regarded consultant, has chaired management and review committees, contributed widely to advisory boards and acted as Director for Centres of Excellence with a number of institutions. Her research on the theory, rationale and analytics behind practice and planned outcomes is crucial in the digital age where technology is both an enabler and driver of pedagogical change. Dr Lynch is the Executive Manager, Society for Learning Analytics Research, an inaugural member of the NSW Learning Analytics Group, Adjunct Professor University of New England and is leading a team of external consultants for La Trobe University’s Learning Analytics Workstream as part of the Digital Learning Strategy.

L E A R N I N G I N T H E D I G I T A L A G EP u s h i n g t h e B o u n d a r i e s

J O H N S C O T T M E E T I N G H O U S E | G L E N N C O L L E G E

Dr Darien Rossiter has extensive experience in the tertiary education sector, working in both public and private sector HE institutions in Australia and the UK. She has an in-depth understanding of the key issues, opportunities and challenges facing tertiary education and offers insights and strategies to manage, and benefit from, the disruptive influences of new technologies, new business models and innovative approaches to learning and teaching. She has been involved in a wide range of international collaborations, research projects and commercial partnerships in e-learning and online learning. In her more recent senior management roles at Cranfield University, OUA and Study Group, she led strategic planning and change initiatives with respect to the design and implementation of online learning environments, curriculum transformation for blended and e-learning, staff training and professional development, library, digital literacy and student support services. In these and previous roles, Darien also had responsibility for the governance, quality assurance, design, development and evaluation of HE, pathway and VET programs, with a particular focus on online, technology-enhanced and flexible modes of deliver

Professor Carmel McNaught is Emeritus Professor of Learning Enhancement and former Director of the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Since the early 1970s, Carmel has worked in higher education in Australasia, southern Africa and the UK in the fields of chemistry, science education, second-language learning, eLearning, and higher-education curriculum and policy matters. She has served on the editorial boards of 18 international journals; and is a prolific author with well over 300 academic publications; recent publications and activities can be viewed at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/people/Carmel.html. She is currently a higher-education consultant, working mostly in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, the UAE and the UK.

Tam Nguyen is the Manager of Learning Design at Open Universities Australia, and is been teaching, designing and delivering in the online space for over 15 years. Tam first explored online technologies in the delivery of large-scale studio-based teaching, employing innovative methods of student-driven content creation and assessment with social networks, blogs and virtual worlds. She later managed the online educational direction for the National Institute of Dramatic Art, spearheading experimental uses of video-conferencing for synchronous acting & voice performance across continents. Tam has lectured, developed and delivered large-scale courses in both online and blended modes, and have designed and facilitated massive open online courses (MOOCs) for the University of New South Wales to cohorts of over 30,000. Her academic background and understanding of higher education teaching has produced effective design tactics that are currently implemented for blended courses. Tam is currently involved in La Trobe’s Blended Learning Curriculum Design component of the Digital Learning Strategy.

ENQUIRIES La Trobe Learning and Teaching

La Trobe UniversityVictoria 3086E ltlt@latrobe.edu.auW www.latrobe.edu.au/ltlt