Ed/Tech must reads

Educational technology, student equity and the role of third space professionals

ASCILITE TELedvisor Webinar: 29 June @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm AEST

The ever increasing complexity of teaching with technology in Higher Ed is made easier with the assistance of specialist advisors working as learning designers, education technologists, academic developers and more - collectively considered ‘Third Space professionals’. (As they sit neither in academia or administration). This webinar presents vital information about ways to make the most of working with these people by understanding what they do and how to navigate the academic/professional staff divide.

Models for Evaluating Education Technology from EdTech Factotum

One of the more interesting things that I do as an Education Technologist is evaluate competing products when my institution decides that a new ‘whatever’ is needed. While some people may dismiss the work that people in my field do as ‘procuring the latest shiny tech’, these processes are invariably highly rigorous (as might be expected when large sums of money are involved) and seek the best solution for a complex set of requirements, both educational and organisational. A colleague shared this site with me recently, outlining half a dozen common models for evaluating education technologies and it has me thinking about a few things. Firstly that a few of these models seem to forget that there is a practical, operational side to education technology but also that while we do extensive requirements gathering from educators and allied staff, these may also sometimes centre around what is best for them (pedagogically) and not the students.

11.133x Implementation and Evaluation of Educational Technology from MITx

As a small addendum, this MOOC from MIT has been the gold standard for me in my understanding of the evaluation and implementation for education technologies. It is not currently running but the resources are still available.

Academic Quality and Integrity in the New Higher Education Digital Environment from Elsevier

I must confess that I haven’t read this very new book but it came up in my feed recommended by people in the space that I trust. Given current concerns about academic integrity in the GenAI age, this looks like both a comprehensive summary of the current state of play and a thoughtful way forward for reshaping assessment to support more ethical practice.

The International Block and Intensive Learning and Teaching Association 

In recent discussions about ‘that’ AFR article, we touched on the impact of the Victoria University Block model and I was directed to this association site. If you are unaware, the block model is a pretty bold reshaping of curriculum and involves students focussing intensively on a single unit for 4-6 weeks, before moving onto the next. Following its success at VU, it is being used at Southern Cross and piloted at Western Sydney. There is a wealth of information about the model to be found here.

Transactional not transformational: the rise of the mega university from the Australian Financial Review

I feel like I am one of only a few people quite underwhelmed by this article but I have mentioned it now so here we are. While I appreciate broad concerns about the changing nature of Higher Education, my problem with this particular piece is the reliance on a couple of cherry picked anecdotes about students not feeling as engaged at uni as their parents promised because students tend not to stick around campus between classes. There is zero attention given to the fact that Youth Allowance/Austudy is perilously low and most students work harder than ever to survive. Instead, all the blame is sheeted onto teaching not being engaging enough and classes being too large. There is no suggestion offered of how to practically reduce class sizes without reducing access to HE. It is fine to say that unis should be smaller but who chooses who gets to stay?

Keen to hear your thoughts on this one.