Cutting IT on the Edge with New Media the Deakin Way: engaging student learning in contemporary higher education setting

1. Cutting IT on the Edge with New Media the Deakin Way:engaging student learning in contemporary higher education settings Stephen Segrave, Ian Smissen & Dale Holt, Institute of Teaching and Learning Deakin University

3. Pay attention to our era’s significant TRANSFORMATIONS and challenges.

4. Future Focus Deakin’s Review of Teaching and Learning . . . emphasises the link between the quality of teaching and what the reviewers describe as “the total student experience” which embraces everything from classroom instruction to student support services. It follows that a “whole of University” response to this Review is necessary. The reviewers have concluded that a five to ten year integrated strategy of change is required. They have presented what they describe as “a watershed plan” involving a major shift in strategic vision and an overhaul of organisational arrangements.

5. Future Focus The Federal Government's $5 billion perpetual endowment fund. Labor Party’s ‘Education Revolution’.What’s happening to the digital and internet revolutions in the context of an education revolution?

6. Overview • Our world at Deakin • Beliefs, values & principles • Our students • Deakin’s bias towards action • E-simulations in the professions • Multimedia repositories • Social networking & synchronous communications • From Social Software to Second Life • New learning, new experiences, more questions, ideas to move forward

7. Our world at Deakin • Parallel worlds of e-learning technologies (corporate/inside/top down & emergent/outside/bottom up) • Flux and transformation in learning, teaching and technologies • Inventing new directions in classroom, online, distance and flexible education • ‘On-campus/school leaver students will be off-campus/matureaged students & off-campus/matureagedwill be on-campus/schoolleaver’ Or is that…

8. The Kinks ‘Girls will be boys and boys will be girls It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for lola Lo-lo-lo-lo lola’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kinks

9. Our beliefs and values – engaging student in learning is… • Experiential • Active • Productive • Searching / Enquiring • Reflective • Collaborative • About teacherly influence • About relationships

10. Our students? • Less time for everything • Less attention (to authority?) • Less persistence, endurance • Less need for deep knowledge • Less fear of failure - always open options • New wealth buys results - Customers • Critical rating of benefit for effort • Consistent valuing of friends and networks

11. Principles quoting Chickering and Gamson (1987)…good practice… • Encourages contacts with between students and faculty • Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students • Uses active learning techniques • Gives prompt feedback • Emphasizes time on task • Communicates high expectations • Respects diverse talents and ways of learning

12. Fire, aim, ready: Deakin’s bias for action • Do stuff • Do evaluation on the stuff we do • Do some research on the stuff • Keep doing stuff even when we are stuffed! • Hopefully along the way create some great stuff with staff, and with/for students!!

13. The world of e-simulations for professional practice Simulations attempt to approximate but not necessarily replicate real-world situations in order to develop desired capacities. We believe that good simulations establish new learningrelationships with students, inviting engagement in roles and situated professional knowledge-building rather than abstract content learning. Students use cognitive and practical technology skills to identify and solve dilemmas that challenge their knowledge, values and emotions. Good simulations, therefore, consciously operate on a personal level.

24. Challenge of ‘User-created Content’ and Rapid Courseware Development YouTube, Flickr . . . . . . . . Web 2.0 . . . Web 3.0 ? How are universities responding as they continue to perfect their corporate eLearning digital infrastructures?

25. Demonstration

26. Digital repositories (closed and open) Media casting (e.g. Streaming, iLecture) Student management (e.g. tracking) Back-end Digital Servicesfor a new era • Rapid personal publishing and participation: • Corporate Technologies • Web 2.0, Simulations & Games

27. The world of social networking: IT Practice…let’s start with Blackboard

28. IT Practice online classroom…staying with Blackboard

29. Module IT communication…Blackboard still & eLive

30. To social software world of UnitedEnterprises…Drupal 06

31. United Enterprises senior staff

32. United Enterprises Careers…Drupal 06 & iLecture

33. United Enterprises…gaining employment/skills required…link to iLecture

34. United Enterprises…Intranet group forums…Joomla 07

35. United Enterprises…Project documentation…Joomla 07

36. Talking directly through synchronous communications

37. The world of social networking to Arts

38. Simulations & ‘Serious’ Games • LiveSim • HOTcopy • V-Lab etc. • Virtual Patient • MMOG’s Second Life • Social games, Role-playing games, Real-time strategies, First-person shooters, Manager games, etc. • Game Engines (Unity 3D, Vortex, etc.)

39. The world beyond in Second Life

44. What do our students and staff think? Sources… • Look at ITL recorded seminars • Look at our DSO evaluations • Look at external expert assessment of e-simulations • Look at our STALGS projects • Look at our published work on extended & wholly online environments • Look at lessons learnt through evaluation on ICT over 15 years • Look at our exemplary cases • Look at our online PD modules

45. What do our students and staff think? Findings…sorry more questions! • But what about different generations of learners? • But do younger students really want us to appropriate their social media for educational purposes? • But are students really as technologically savvy as we might think they are? • But what pedagogies are really needed to create such learning?

46. Key ideas in cutting IT on the edge of new media • Easy & quick • Self-creating/self-publishing understandings of one’s and other’s ideas • Various media in creative amalgam • Self-controlled, identity projection • Communities of interest • With subscription & aggregation facility • Multiple attentions, rapid critiquing

47. References • Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). ‘Seven Principles for Good Practice In Undergraduate Education’. AAHE Bulletin.

48. Websites • DSO evaluations: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/research-eval/reports.php • Evaluation reports: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/research-eval/reports.php • Expert e-sim evaluation report: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/research-eval/reports.php • ITL Seminars: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/workshops/past-presentations.php • ITL online PD modules: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/pd/tl-modules/online/index.php • ITL cases: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/teach-learn/cases/index.htm • ITL lessons learnt in evaluating educational technology: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/research-eval/evaluation/eval-tech.php • STALGS projects: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/grants/stalgs.php