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Right on time for thinking ahead
What do you call three present vice chancellors and a retired one in a room?
When they are talking about the future for campuses and communities in the world COVID is creating, CMM calls it an “astute.”
Join Helen Bartlett (Uni Sunshine Coast), Glyn Davis (formerly Uni Melbourne), Brian Schmidt (ANU) and Deborah Terry (Uni Queensland) at CMM and partners’ ZOOM conference on what’s next for life on campus. Starts with the Quad, 11am (east cast summer time) this morning.
And then stay on for two more sets of astutes at following sessions, with Piper Bell and Mollie Dollinger asking students what they will want to come back to campus followed by Adam Shoemaker, Romy Lawson, Mitch Parsell, Michael Sankey, talking with Adam Shoemaker about whether there is life in the lecture.
Tickets and details here
There’s more in the Mail
In Features this morning
Pamela Humphreys (Macquarie U) reports on a learning technology from Coursera creators, that helps MU replicate aspects of the traditional classroom enhanced by tech.
And Les Kirkup (UTS) makes the case for the lecture. It’s this week’s addition to Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed Now in teaching and learning.
Plus Jane O‘Dwyer on 30 years of CRCs – products plus the bedrock of the national innovation system.
Second election for Uni Queensland Senate
No, the chamber is not hung
It’s because a “a small number of recipients … have reported anomalies with the on-line voting platform.”
The issues are said to “be few” but the university is “deeply committed” to the election and so the poll is scrubbed and people who have already voted have to cast a ballot again, next month.
Hard no to feds’ Intellectual Property plan
As part of the government’s research commercialisation framework there’s a proposal for managing Intellectual Property – the ATN Group is not impressed
“The IP Framework as outlined is not fit-for-purpose – its prescriptive approach and focus on compliance is antithetical to the flexible, adaptive and responsive approach that our industry partners are seeking,” the Australian Technology Network and its pal Uni Newcastle state.
The proposed framework was released last month, with a view to creating a way for “transferring publicly funded research results into breakthrough products and new businesses,” (CMM September 22).
But the ATN thinks not, “There is a real risk that if the commercialisation environment is too tightly regulated and subject to an onerous reporting burden, then the government will in fact discourage and stymie the kind of commercialisation activities we intend to promote and pursue. Our goal should be to make commercialisation easier and more attractive for all partners.”
ATE suggests three ways to “re-cast” the Framework,
* separate strategies for Indigenous IP. “There are particular customs, legal issues, rights and responsibilities, and cultural and ethical considerations that should govern (its) use …”
* “direct positive support for commercialisation as part of a comprehensive scheme.” “There are various potential blockages in the research-commercialisation pipeline and specific enablers needed from early-stage research right through to commercialisation. Managing and maximising our use of intellectual property is one element of a much larger system
*” there is a place for standard agreements and templates. However, the principles of flexibility, adaptability, responsiveness and being partner-led also mean that standard agreements should not restrict or limit universities and their partners from making the arrangements that best suit their circumstances.”
But mainly the ATN suggests the feds start again,
* The IP Framework should be re-cast to focus on enabling opportunity rather than enforcing compliance.
“there is a place for standard agreements and templates. However, the principles of flexibility, adaptability, responsiveness and being partner-led also mean that standard agreements should not restrict or limit universities and their partners from making the arrangements that best suit their circumstances.”
Detail on the digital from QUT
Distribution of movies, music and news is not what it used to be – but how industries were transformed and businesses started and stopped is way more intriguing than just assuming the internet did it
Which is what makes QUT media scholar Amanda Lotz’s new book, Media Disrupted so engaging – she takes a bunch of stuff we all experience and puts it in a way bigger context of creative destruction, disruption, adaption, invention.
And her work is part of what she writes. CMM paid $11 for the immediately delivered on-line edition of her book which case-studies, music, film, newspapers and television.
Which is good – but there’s an industry that could be included for a second edition, for-profit journal publishing.
Professor Lotz talks about the book, tomorrow.
Colin Simpson’s Ed Tech reads of the week
Watch Party Lectures: Synchronous Delivery of Asynchronous Material from Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education.
Something that I’ve noticed recently in on-line conferences is an increased use of pre-recorded presentations. My initial response to this was a sense of feeling somewhat ripped off, but in better sessions I have realised how well this can work. Presenters are freed up to engage in simultaneous chat as the video plays, answering questions and following the audience down new discussion paths that would not be possible in a synchronous session. Emily Nordmann (Uni Glasgow) is one of the leading lights in scholarship of lecture capture. This paper with her colleague Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel describes their recent use of this innovative approach with lecture “watch parties” with students. Once lecturers get past the strangeness of watching themselves, they and the students report real benefits from this mode of teaching.
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Platinum (LMS) picks for 2021 from Craig Weiss
I’ll preface this with a large caveat that I am wary of anyone who describes themselves as “the most influential person in the world for learning systems” and whose evaluation criteria include being signed up to their own business’s “customer excellence pledge.” That said, this list of 30 learning management systems (LMS) recommended by Weiss offers a handy resource for anyone exploring options in the LMS space and it covers a range of organisational contexts. I recognised just one name on this list, D2L.
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Troll farms reached 140 million Americans a month on Facebook before 2020 election, internal report shows from MIT Technology Review
It’s no secret that Facebook has an oversized grasp on the world’s psyche but this report from the MIT Technology Review still manages to chill in terms of how effectively this is misused. In 2020, 19 of the top 20 “American” Christian pages in terms of views were based in troll farms in Eastern Europe with suspected ties to Russian Intelligence. These aren’t even pages that people have signed up to, simply those that Facebook presents as “related content.” More than anything, stories like this highlight the urgency of embedding digital and media literacy and critical thinking in every level of the education system.
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12 ideas to refresh your teaching in less than 10 minutes from The Educationalist.
Alexandra Mihai draws on a range of resources in cognitive psychology and faculty development to provide 12 brief activities (and wider practises) to bolster student learning in classes. Ranging from keeping the lesson plan visible for signposting/contextualisation to retrieval practices and activating prior knowledge, these are all things that can be picked up with minimal preparation.
Colin Simpson has worked in education technology in the tertiary sector since 2003 and is employed by Monash University’s Education Innovation team. For more from Colin, follow him on Twitter @gamerlearner
TEQSA guides to compliance
A learned reader (doubtless searching for a musical-comedy subject) reports coming across three new TEQSA manuals
What used to be “guidance notes” are now “compliance guides,” “to differentiate these new guidance materials from the previous guidance notes.”
The three revisions are to agency’s briefs on, admissions, scholarship and work integrated learning. They are out for user-assessment until November 10.
But didn’t the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency recently settle on scholarship, you ask. Quite right, the guidance note went out for review on October 10th ‘20.
Dolt of the day
Is CMM. Learned readers point out that CMM’s list of women who are science agency heads did not include ANSTO chair, Annabelle Bennett.
Appointments, achievements
Marcia Devlin (ex DVC Victoria U) is the inaugural CEO of the Victorian government’s Academy of Teaching and Leadership.
Quin Chang (RMIT) is the new chair of Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia
The Heart Foundation announces 14 2021 Future Leadership Fellowships, Anna Calkin (Baker HDI), Rachel Climie (U Tas), Ryan Courtney (UNSW), Michael Falster (UNSW), Kylie Hesketh (Deakin U), Li Jiawen (Uni Adelaide), Lining Ju (Uni Sydney), Monique Kilkenny (Monash U), Yugeesh Lankadeva (Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health), Francine Marques (Monash U), Ziad Nehme (Monash U), Dion Stub (Monash U), Steven Wise (Uni Sydney), Rebecca Wyse (Uni Newcastle),
Susie Siew Yuen Ho (Monash U) is a foundation member of the advisory board for the new Victorian Skills Authority
Saeid Nahavandi (Deakin U) is Engineers Australia’s professional engineer of the year award for Victoria.
Uni Melbourne’s Universitas 21 fellowships for this year go to Elisa Bone (academic staff) and Mark Gregory (professional staff).