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PRESS RELEASE - ACODE 47 Wellington 19-20 June 2008

Institutional policies and frameworks - supporting the effective use of technology

Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE) members will meet at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand on 19-20 June to discuss how institutional policies and frameworks can be used to support effective use of technology for students, staff and the institution.

This ACODE 47 workshop will explore how frameworks can help an institution promote an environment that supports students and staff. Existing frameworks will be examined and criteria for supportive institutional leadership will be explored.

The current educational environment is still characterised by:

significant changes in the roles and expectations of universities;
changes in the characteristics, needs and expectations of learners;
fundamental changes in technology and its impact on teaching and learning;
increased emphasis on quality assurance and accountability;
reduced public funding in real terms; and
increased competition in higher education.

As an organisation of Australasian universities, ACODE’s mission is to enhance policy and practice in open, distance, flexible and e-learning in Australasian higher education by:

disseminating and sharing knowledge and expertise;
supporting professional development and providing networking opportunities;
investigating, developing and evaluating new approaches;
advising and influencing key bodies in higher education; and
promoting best practice.

Through its activities ACODE seeks to influence policy and practice at institutional, national and international levels. ACODE meets three times a year for two days at meetings hosted by member institutions across Australasia. The two day meetings usually consist of a one day workshop on a topic of policy and/or practice for Directors/Managers of university teaching and learning units or units concerned with open, distance or e-learning. A business meeting is held on the second day and usually incorporates a site visit at the host institution.

Recently elected ACODE President, Gordon Suddaby will welcome speakers from Australian and international universities to ACODE 47 to provide insights into e-learning in the higher education sector. ACODE 48 scheduled for 17-18 November 2008 at the University of Canberra on “Emerging Technologies” will also contribute to development of principles of quality learning and teaching in distributed and e-Learning environments.

For further information contact:

Gordon Suddaby
President, Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE)
Director, Centre for Academic Development and E-Learning (CADeL)
Massey University | Palmerston North | New Zealand
Phone: +64 6 3505799 Extn 8805 | Email: G.T.Suddaby@massey.ac.nz
http://www.acode.edu.au/

PRESS RELEASE - ACODE 42 Sydney 2-3 November 2006

Unis connect Millennials

ACODE (Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning) continues its workshop series on 2 and 3 November at the University of NSW.

Day One promises lively discussion about current issues in Learning Management System (LMS) developments. Presenters include Blackboard Director of Sales, Mike Erlin and Vice-president, Linux Australia, Pia Waugh. Waugh, also Research Co-ordinator for ASK-OSS, believes Open Source technologies hold the key to new models of collaboration between educators and students. “From Google, desktops and mobile phones, Open Source allows us to tap into the world’s largest and most open community,” she says.

Sandy Britain from the New Zealand Ministry of Education will discuss the uptake of Open Source technology in his country.

Day Two focuses on the mobile generation. Students are forcing universities to re-think their learning spaces. ‘Chalk and talk’ is being outdated by technologically savvy learners who prefer to sip a short black under the shade of a tree while downloading their lecture from an iPod. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Associate Director, Teaching & Learning, Allison Brown says students display a passion for connectedness — students’ mobile phones, pocket PCs, PDAs and laptops will not just be tolerated … but supported and encouraged. “All this impacts on the way unis make decisions about spending money on infrastructure,” Brown says. Traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ is moving over for cyber-space and new designs of physical spaces that encourage innovative learning.

Institutional case studies from UNSW, Macquarie University, University of Melbourne, University of Queensland and University of Wollongong will show how new designs in learning spaces are bringing students, lecturers and experts together in higher education.

The Australian Government is backing the push for connectivity with an investment of more than $85 million to improve research facilities across university campuses. Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), Director Educational Innovation & Technology Policy, Peter Nicholson will outline how DEST aims to improve access to education content and services across AARNet3 and the international networks it peers with.

Through its affiliation with key learning and teaching bodies including the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and the Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT), ACODE aims to inform Australian government policy-makers of best practice in e-Learning.

PRESS RELEASE - ACODE 41 Brisbane 18-19 May 2006

'Unis share IT know-how'

An ACODE (Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning) workshop at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) on 18 and 19 May will explore how universities manage their learning and teaching technologies.

QUT Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Coaldrake will welcome speakers from Australian institutions, including University of Melbourne, Deakin, Edith Cowan, Flinders, Griffith, Victoria and Macquarie Universities, University of Southern Queensland and Education.au Ltd.

Griffith University IT Director, Mr Geoff Dengate wants to highlight the importance of the communication loop when new information systems are introduced. “I want the (workshop) audience to appreciate the impact on servers, databases and computer labs. The five minutes before an online lecture goes up, is for us like the Melbourne Cup day of betting for the TAB,” Dengate says.

ACODE Vice President, Associate Professor Alan Smith says there needs to be an implementation framework that includes communication strategies, training and evaluation. “We don’t want to stifle innovation or creativity, but we don’t want great technologies to fall over due to lack of planning. Some institutions are very organised, in others it happens like spot-fires,” he says.

The ACODE 41 workshop aims to develop an institutional model for the effective management of Learning & Teaching technologies by sharing positive and negative experiences.

PRESS RELEASE - ACODE 39 Melbourne 16-17 November 2005

'e-Quality in Learning & Teaching'

Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE) members will meet at the University of Melbourne on November 17 to discuss the challenges Australian universities face to ensure Quality outcomes in online learning in a transnational context.

ACODE’s Quality in Learning and Teaching workshop will be addressed by Dr David Woodhouse, Executive Director of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). Woodhouse says the “big picture for Australian higher education is the globe”.

ACODE Chair, Professor Denise Kirkpatrick will welcome speakers from Australian and international universities as well as an educational technologist specializing in e-learning benchmarking—Professor Paul Bacsich will provide an insight into lessons learned from e-learning in the corporate sector, including UNESCO, the European Commission and national government agencies.

Outcomes of ACODE’s benchmarking project involving the Universities of Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmania, RMIT, Monash, Victoria University and the University of Southern Queensland will be delivered to “provide a workable benchmarking framework for quality improvement,” said Christine Goodacre, Director of the Flexible Education Unit at UTAS.

Professor Kirkpatrick said the diverse blend of speakers, with experience in teaching and learning theory, learning technologies, institutional planning and research, information management, quality and benchmarking all contribute to a view of quality in teaching and learning that goes beyond a set of quantitative measures. “Quality in university learning and teaching is a complex area. It requires critical inquiry and we need to consider a whole range of factors that affect students’ learning,” she said.

Dr Catherine Finnegan from the University System of Georgia will present a session that analyses the behaviours of students in fully online courses based on data obtained from access logs in a course management system, linked with data from the student information system. Her research examines differences in patterns of frequency and duration of activity for successful and non-successful students.

ACODE’s final workshop for 2005 will contribute to the development of a statement of principles of Quality Learning and Teaching in distributed and e-Learning environments.

PRESS RELEASE - ACODE 38 Darwin 18-19 August 2005

Hosted by Charles Darwin University

'Academics Collude on Cheating'

The Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE) will map current trends in detecting plagiarism and collusion at its next workshop Academic Integrity at Charles Darwin University, NT, on August 18.

ACODE chair, Professor Denise Kirkpatrick will welcome speakers from University of Tasmania, University of Newcastle, RMIT and Murdoch University.

Policy and implementation issues of electronic detection software will be discussed in the context of the holistic approach to addressing academic integrity led by a university-wide management action plan.

Dr Rob Phillips, from Murdoch Uni’s Teaching and Learning Centre, says that while there can’t be a “one-size fits all” plan for catching cheats, at least the sharing of ideas will improve processes and provide input for benchmarking projects. Collaboration also eases the workload for universities – they won’t have to use valuable resources by “re-inventing the wheel”.

The Academic Integrity workshop will include a structured activity to involve participants in hands-on practice in assigning penalties for given scenarios and a discussion of issues around penalties and reporting arrangements.

Article on Academic Integrity Workshop - Published by Campus Review, Vol 15 No 34, August 2005

'Distance Cheats' - Alethea Mouhtouris

Australian universities are considering working together to develop a single, national approach to resolve intellectual property issues associated with submitting students' work into detection software.

As well, universities will share information to continue the fight against plagiarism and better educate their students and staff as better use of resources.

These are two outcomes from a recent plagiarism and collusion workshop held by the Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-learning (ACODE).

ACODE chair, Professor Denise Kirkpatrick, says plagiarism had always been an issue but it is now critical the right policies are in place for dealing with it.

Kirkpatrick says distance education and online learning have triggered different challenges for academics around cheating a plagiarism.

"There's probably a perception that it is more difficult for us to educate our students when we don't see them as frequently in a distance education program," Kirkpatrick says.

"There's always been a conventional view that if we're teaching our students face-to-face for a semester, then we get to know them pretty well and know how they express themselves. In a distance education situation, frequently the only exposure that academics have to students' work is when they submit their assessment pieces. So it can be a little more difficult to assess whether you, as an academic, can really believe that's the student's own work."

She says each university had its own academic standards, policies and procedures for plagiarism and collusion, and while a national set of standards is lacking, there are shared principles and common themes.

"We are aiming to provide an opportunity for staff to share what they have been doing so we can learn from each other and ensure we put in place the best possible education for students and staff that we can come up with," Kirkpatrick says.

"Our view is that it's better for us to work collaboratively across institutions than have everyone working in isolation. There are a number of universities that have developed quite extensive education programs and a number of those are available in various multimedia and online, and so we'll be sharing some of those so we can see what others have done.

"Hopefully, we'll have some opportunities for universities to re-use the work, under all the right conventions of course, but rather than having every university investing a lot of resources into developing stand-alone resources for staff and students, we can share and build on those that have been already developed."

While the rise of technology, including the internet, had widened opportunities for plagiarism, it had also allowed the development of tools to help universities fight it.

"Universities are applying those tools in different ways; some are providing detection software to students so they can check their own assignments before they submit them in case they have unintentionally plagiarised, and we see that as a very important part of the education program."

Dr Rob Phillips from Murdoch University, who recently facilitated the one-day Academic Integrity workshop at Charles Darwin University, says a theme emerged during the workshop that staff are working on developing the academic integrity of their students rather than just trying to catch cheating.

"They were saying, let's educate our students to be ethical citizens rather than catch them at cheating. Just about everybody has tightened their disciplinary and detection procedures but at the same time there was fairly broad recognition that we need to educate our students and get them to behave properly and that means putting mechanisms in place where they can't cheat," Phillips says.

He says there is also an apparent "disconnect" at many institutions between plagiarism detection at the chalkface and disciplinary procedures at the faculty, divisional and university level. He said two universities - Newcastle and UNSW - had appointed academic conduct officers and faculty student ethics officers respectively, to act as the interface.

Phillips is working on an academic integrity website to be widely available that pulls together the positions, policies and approaches taken by universities in Australasia.

"We've focused the policy approaches taken at different universities and the three aspects to the practice: educating staff and students, detection and disciplinary action."

PRESS RELEASE - ACODE 37 Auckland 4 April 2005

Jointly hosted by Auckland University of Technology and Massey University

'NZ leads by example in e-Learning'

The Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning intends to bring New Zealand’s national strategy for tertiary e-Learning capability to the attention of Australian policy-makers.

NZ’s Ministry of Education’s Murray Leach will outline the government’s strategy to support e-learning in his country’s tertiary institutions at ACODE’s Collaboration in e-Learning workshop in Auckland on April 4.

ACODE Chair and Director, Learning and Teaching, Monash University, Professor Denise Kirkpatrick, has praised the leadership of the New Zealand government.

“The government support and funding for our ACODE colleagues in New Zealand shows the collaborative framework that is possible for e-Learning in Australia,” she said.

Professor Kirkpatrick said ACODE is particularly keen to report the outcomes of the Auckland workshop to the Carrick Institute which provides a national focus for the enhancement of learning and teaching in Australian higher education institutions.

The ACODE 37 program is designed to coincide with the Microsoft sponsored conference Educause Australasia - The Next Wave of Collaboration in Auckland on 5 – 8 April which focuses on the “three forces of Library, IT and e-Learning”.