Ed & Tech must-reads 281025

Designing causal evaluations of analytics-prompted interventions in higher education: three case studies of interventions designed to improve wellbeing from Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education

Like the blockchain, COVID-19, and MOOCs, we don’t hear so much about learning analytics these days. This is kind of strange really, because unlike the new cool thing, it at least deals in consistently reliable facts about students and their learning activities. Which facts we choose and what meaning we ascribe to them however have never 100% been worked out. This article from the UK examines what happens next in terms of the interventions for at-risk students that are put into place and, equally importantly, how these interventions are designed and evaluated effectively by combining quant data with implementation and process evaluation. It’s robust, built on solid evidence and well thought through.

Universities (still) suck at learning analytics from Col’s weblog

(Different Col, same broad field). The author of this blog - who I am pretty sure I know but he doesn’t identify himself so neither will I - has been writing about education and technology on it since 2007. That is some commitment. His PhD involves exploring how unis implement learning analytics (among other things) and in this post he shares some ideas drawing on situational awareness theory (ironically not one I’m familiar with). It’s all very solid, systems thinking kind of stuff from what I can see. The points he raises about how and where LA can fail hark back to my earlier point about the type of data used and the meaning given to it. The tendency of IT departments to seek a one-size-fits-all solution as the most efficient plays into the problem but I am also aware that IT departments are often aware of the limitations of this approach and like to support flexibility where possible. Experiences vary though and clearly that is not the case with this author. It offers helpful insights.

Bill Shorten ‘re-imagines universities’, with specialist institutions and bespoke degrees from The Conversation

The new-ish (early 2025) Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra Bill Shorten came to the role from Australian federal politics - once leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party. I thought that this was quite the interesting move for an MP - certainly preferable to getting on the mining/defence/lobbying merry-go-round. Running a university would seem to involve skills with people and politics that could well suit someone with this background. Or he could run smack into the wall of academic indifference. Either way, a show worth watching. He seems to have been doing the requisite listening tour type activities, and is starting to discuss the innovation that he thinks is needed in the sector. This article reporting a recent speech showcases some decent sized swings - stackable micro-credentials and establishing specialist institutions. Some of his language feels both buzzwordy yet almost quaintly archaic - like he has just hit the mid 2010s in his learning journey. I don’t necessarily disagree with most of what he’s saying, though applying AI to recognition of prior learning seems unnecessary, and it is good to see some interesting ideas being floated. Whether he has the skills to pay the Bills (sorry but he loves a dad joke) remains to be seen but I look forward to hearing more.

ASCILITE Webinar: Assurance of learning in the age of AI - Weds Oct 29, 2:30pm AEST / 3:30pm AEDT from ASCILITE

It’s yet another AI talk - but it’s a pretty decent panel. This is the blurb.

Join us for our next ASCILITE Live! Webinar. A panel session entitled “Assurance of Learning in the Age of AI: Leading with Integrity and Innovation"

Join higher education leaders- Danny Liu (University of Sydney), Dominique Parrish (Torrens University), Katrina Strampel (Edith Cowan University), Mollie Dollinger (Curtin University), and Romi Lawson (Flinders University), chaired by Dani Logan-Fleming (ASCILITE 2025 Community Fellow, Torrens University Australia) as they explore how universities are operationalising Assurance of Learning in response to generative AI. This timely panel builds on TEQSA’s position and the AAIN Forum, with benchmarking insights on curriculum mapping, assessment practices, accreditation standards, and enabling technologies. Gain practical perspectives and contribute to shaping credible, defensible, and scalable AoL models for 2026 and beyond.