Ed/Tech must-reads 160724

Giving an F for Recording Classes, Even for Students With Disabilities from Inside Higher Ed

My immediate, visceral reaction this heading was a groan, annoyance and probably some swears. I have come across too many entitled academics in my time who place their own egos above student learning and this seemed like yet another case of that. Then I read the article. Long story short, a political science lecturer calls on her students to verbally articulate controversial positions on social issues in class as part of learning. The kind of stuff which, if misrepresented or misunderstood could lead to online strife for both her and the students. So she added a rule to her syllabus that anyone recording the class automatically fails. Which is fine, unless you need legally-mandated accommodations for accessibility. I have seen so much debate about lecture/class recordings in terms of academic freedom, impact on learning/attendance/interest and more which have often seemed rather disingenuous. This though - was a tricky one.

In defence of Student Surveys (but only if we do them differently) from Needed Now in Learning and Teaching

With the inbound changes to HE, demonstrating quality in teaching is going to be more important than ever. Which is tricky, because it is a truly difficult thing to quantify. The default measure in most institutions is an end of semester/teaching-period student survey, which as Sam Cunningham, Abby Cathcart and Tina Graham (QUT) point out, is fraught. Abusive and unhelpful feedback, gender and racial bias, and the question of how much students know about what they need for good learning (and how well they can articulate this) all contribute to providing flawed data. The authors highlight the value of reframing these surveys in terms of student wellbeing and providing greater guidance about useful feedback.

CRADLE Seminar Series: Assessment beyond the individual unit/module and AI - Webinar Weds 17th July 2pm AEST

Tickets are running out for this session but it looks like a good one. Phil Dawson, Margaret Bearman (Deakin), Jason Lodge (UQ) and Rowena Harper (ECU) discuss programmatic design and assessment as potential solutions to the myriad challenges of GenAI

TELedvisors Network webinar – Getting into Research - Thurs 27th July 12pm AEST

If you are a third space practitioner in Higher Education, you are probably aware of how important engaging in research can be for developing understand of curly questions in our space and also (pragmatically) developing credibility. For those of us in professional staff roles, institutional barriers can make this a challenge. Rebecca Ng (UoW), Kate Mitchell (Melbourne Uni), Stephen Abblitt (Keypath), Suman Laudari (ANU), Kashmira Dave (UNE) and Swapnell Thite (UNSW) are here to share their stories about how as TELedvisors they got into research, the types of research they engage in, their tips for how you too can get into research, the pitfalls to avoid, and how research more efficiently.