Ed tech must reads: column #43

First published in Campus Morning Mail, 12th July 2022

Interactive 360° video stories from 360ViSi

The ability of video to place learners in locations that it would otherwise be difficult or dangerous for them to access is one of the technology’s greatest strengths. The next step from this is for learners to have a full 360° perspective of what is happening in this world. This website documents an EU project with a focus on health education, but the applications in other disciplines are easy to find. It shares a number of case studies as well as a handy explainer for getting started.

“What makes students want to read the syllabus?” from Dr Gabe Willis (Twitter)

As many of us approach the start of a new teaching period, this seems to be a perennial question. The benefits are obvious – better signposting of the purpose and direction of the unit and fewer questions about quizzes and assignments. This discussion thread on Twitter last week walks through this issue and offers some useful suggestions and solutions. Paying Snoop Dogg to record a video asking your students to read it may not be the most orthodox option but it is in there as well.

Academics, we need useful dialogues not monologues from EduResearch Matters (AARE)

You’ve been to an academic conference in your field during the mid-year break, seen an engaging presentation and then ‘one of those people’ puts up their hand as soon as there is a call for questions. You know that this is not going to be a question. Ameena Payne (Deakin) and Ashah Tanoa (Murdoch) spun off a Twitter discussion into this thoughtful blog post about what we need to do better when it comes to the Q&A part of academic conferences.

Learning Design Frameworks, Models and Toolkits from Danielle Hinton

A great deal of thought can go into the way that a learning experience is designed and theories, approaches and models abound. This Padlet brings together nearly 50 different resources from a wide range of institutions and organisations. At first glance (and second), it is daunting and could benefit from some kind of community rating system but it is well worth a browse.

Learning Design SIG webinar on entangled pedagogy and learning design – Thursday 14th July, 4pm AEST

When people discuss the use of education technologies, the issue of whether technology drives the pedagogical cart is often featured. Dr Tim Fawns (Uni of Edinburgh) recently wrote an intriguing article that I shared here suggesting that this either/or perspective isn’t necessarily the best one. He will expand on these ideas in a webinar on Thursday for ASCILITE’s Learning Design SIG.