Ed/Tech must-reads

Hello colleagues, well the year is nearly over and we are at the clock-watching point where hopefully nobody is really doing too much work. (If you are, my sympathies). In that spirit, I offer you this holiday reading list drawn from the many concise papers at the ASCILITE conference just gone. I wish you a great break and a happy and peaceful 2024. (I’ll be back in mid January)

This selection showcases some targeted, mostly localised projects and work of note. I quite like the idea of teaching analytics (while also recognising the fraught nature of them if used the wrong way)

Prior knowledge as a limiting factor in critical thinking skills development from Allen and Jevons

The missing link in Learning Analytics: A discussion on using assessment data for student-facing dashboards from White, Dave and Huijser

Can gamification improve student engagement and learning?: A proposed quasi-experiment from Mitchell and Co

Experiences of learning and teaching in HyFlex spaces from Gedera

Online Social Annotation: Compare Onshore Face-to-face and Offshore English as an Additional Language (EAL) Students in a Hybrid Course from Cui and Le

Understanding university teachers’ online pedagogies through teaching analytics: What are the possibilities? from Boitshwarelo, Stack, Hynes and Armstrong

These papers take a somewhat larger view, examining work and ideas more at an institutional scale. These involve taking some big, and necessary swings.

More than the sum of its parts: Reflections on a networked program supporting curriculum innovation at a research-intensive university from Bone, Oliveira, Colla, Spencer, Farrow, Harris, Gaitan, and Iftikhar

Who wants to be a teaching innovator? from Bridge, Loch, Horey, Julien, and Thompson

Business school and museum partnership to change student perceptions on leadership from Wardak, Mantai, Guerry and Thogerson

Design-Based Research: Enhancing pedagogical design from Cochrane, Galvin, Buskes, Lam, Rajagopal, Glasser, Osborne, Loveridge, Davey, John, Townsin and Moss

Affecting culture change: Experience from the trenches of Large-scale `formation integrating active learning from Chen, Yench and Abramson

Designing adaptive online support for problem-based learning from Casey and Yeboah

Not off to a flying start: Rerouting with human-centred design from Carney

‘I don’t know the hierarchy’: Using UX to position literacy development resources where students expect them from Bassett, Chapman and Wattam

These papers cover the work of my favourite people, the learning designers, educational technologists and academic developers (etc) that toil behind the scenes to make everyone else look good. The focus on the developing learning designers was a big theme this year - I went to three completely independent sessions on this on the same day.

A journey through course development: The design process for a new early childhood education course from Bugden and Mok

Unveiling the chameleon: How can we successfully collaborate and deepen partnerships in educational design projects from Thornley and Schwenger

Forging the path in the third space: Opportunities and challenges for Learning Designers in Higher Education from Pretero, Tsatsaronis, Heggart, Vanderburg and Bùi

Finding function in dysfunction - The role of a learning technologist: A case study of Panopto from Kala and Ladha

Diverse people, diverse pathways: Exploring a professional development ecosystem for Learning Designers from Mitchell and Bugden

I mean, you didn’t think we wouldn’t have papers on ChattyG did you?

Frenemies - Unleashing the Power of ChatGPT in Assessments from Wysel

Collaborative sensemaking with generative AI: A muse, amuse, muse from Vallis, Taleo, Wheeler, Casey, Tucker, Luu and Zeviots

“A Co-Pilot for Learning Design?”: Perspectives from Learning Designers on the Uses, Challenges, and Risks of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education from Ryall and Abblitt

There is a little bit of everything in here, from student run Facebook groups to microcredentials and virtual cadavers.

Let me confess … Can a social media page create a sense of belonging? from White and Caccamo

Navigating the Future of Professional Learning: Digital Microcredentials in the Australian Context from Ngo, Dave and Heggart

Exploring alternative invigilated assessments in higher education: A work in progress from Kinley

Developing a digital anatomy lab for rural medical students from Hampshire, Havellas, Corvalan-Diaz, Beverdam, Kariyappa and Whittaker

Mapping learning microclimates in a large-cohort online course: Seeing the trees in the wood from Kay Hammond