Ed/Tech must-reads 180325

UAlbany Professor Developers AI to Give Teachers Feedback from Govtech.com/Bluesky

I often read reactions to the work of education scholars and administrators that reflect pure horror from academics that anyone would dare examine or question their teaching approaches. Sometimes these feel like overreactions but not so much in this case. This article (and more importantly, the responses in the Bluesky thread) examines work by a professor in educational theory and practice at a university in the US which essentially records classes and provides feedback to schools teachers about how well they taught. You may already be asking what “how well they taught” looks like. While there isn’t a lot of data, it appears to include how the teacher moves around the room, whether they speak to all students, the kind of activities they use and even their language. All evaluated by AI. I’d be happy to look over a peer reviewed article going into more depth about the methodology and the results but at first glance, this doesn’t really pass what, in Australia, we call the “pub test”. (Pub as in chatting about it in a pub/bar)

Does Generative AI Dream of Digital Sheep? The creative engine of a post-digital university from Technology Enhanced Learning MTU

My former boss at USyd and ed tech raconteur Peter Bryant does his thing in this engaging presentation about promise and perils of GenAI (other than snooping on teaching) in the modern university. He highlights the need to remain focused on developing critical and creative literacies as he explores the affect that ChattyG is having on higher ed.

Expressions of Interest now open for Open Education Down UnderOER: Australasian Case Studies from the Open Educational Resources Collective

The world of open educational resources is steadily chugging away in the background (in some ways), finding practical opportunities to bring down the megaliths of corporate academic publishing. The Open Educational Resources Collective is a collaboration including the ASCILITE Open Educational Practice SIG and CAUL and they are currently looking for new case studies to shine a light on open educational practices in Australasia. The first round of submissions is due on the 15th May. Even if you aren’t interested in submitting something though, there is a wealth of other material about this valuable movement on this site.

TELedvisors webinar March 2025 – Working in the Higher Education Third Space 1pm (AEDT) Thursday 27th March

The TELedvisors Network is back for our 9th season of webinars showcasing all aspects of teaching and technology in tertiary education. This month features two presentations drawing on papers in the recently released Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education special issue on the higher education third space. We will have Meredith Hinze (UniMelb) and Kashmira Dave (UNE) taking us through a paper on lived experiences of several key third space roles and then Evonne Irwin (UniMelb) discussing what is needed for more effective communication and opportunity creation to allow these people to have a more meaningful contribution to decision making.

The Peer Revue - How to Seek Feedback - 7pm (AEDT) Thurs 20th March at the Motley Bauhaus (Carlton, Vic - in person only)

The Peer Revue is an unusual way to dive into someone’s research but remarkably effective. Deakin’s Phil Dawson leads an improv comedy group who interpret brief snippets of a researcher’s discussion of their work. This time, he is putting his own work in the spotlight.