Colin Simpson’s ed-tech reads of the week

Online reading lists: a mixed-method analysis of the academic perspective from International Journal on Digital Libraries

As semester kicks into gear, the perennial cry of students about the high price of textbooks is again heard throughout the land. Happily, institutional librarians are at least able to reduce the overall burden of supplementary readings through the use of digital reading list systems. This article from Kumara et al. explores current attitudes toward these platforms, notes different levels of use based on discipline area and the need to improve ease of use.

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What’s behind the growth and interest in learning design? From Neil Mosley

Good teaching has always been challenging for individual practitioners and is evermore the case as technology and pedagogy grow more sophisticated. Neil Mosley discusses the growth of specialist advisors in Learning Design needed to support the evolution of teaching as a design process. Entry paths into this field are still poorly defined, with a smattering of post-grad qualifications emerging but nothing at the undergraduate level yet.

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An evolving partnership model in higher education — a matter of inter-connections from Medium

Jenny Pesina reflects on the nature of working relationships between learning designers (and peers) and educators in Higher Education, considering some of the organisational structures that influence how these people can contribute to better learning and teaching. The way that relationships vary, based on central vs faculty units and what might be done to strengthen bonds, is noteworthy.

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Education Dept. Shocks Ed-Tech Experts and Colleges With Expansion of Oversight from The Chronicle of Higher Education

This is American news, but these broad policy changes do seem to tend to flow on eventually. In a nutshell, it sees third party providers of services to universities that are tied to recruitment and delivery of online programmes are facing great accountability in their activities. In Australia, this would include on-line programme managers (OPMs) like OES and Keypath, who operate on-lineonly programmes in many Australian universities.

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ChatGPT – how should educators respond? Webinar Wed 1st March 2-4 pm AEDT from CRADLE/TEQSA and Student-staff forum on generative artificial intelligence at Sydney Wednesday, March 1, 1-2 pm from Uni Sydney

Two very interesting looking AI webinars on Wednesday this week, with CRADLE/TEQSA continuing their great series of deep dives with Margaret Bearman, Rola Ajjawi, Lucinda McKnight (Deakin U), Simon Buckingham Shum (UTS), and Sarah Howard (Uni Wollongong) considering educator responses and the Education Innovation team at USyd creating much needed space for the student voice in this discussion. (The recording of last week’s TELedvisors Webinar – the Two AIs – is now available on YouTube as well).

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UTS Open Education Week March 6-10 – UTS hosts a string of notables including Maha Bali and Amanda White in a series of sessions about opening up education

Colin Simpson has worked in education technology, teaching, learning design and academic development in the tertiary sector since 2003 at CIT, ANU, Swinburne University and Monash University. He is also one of the leaders of the ASCILITE TELedvisors Network. For more from Colin, follow him on Twitter @gamerlearner (or @[email protected] on Mastodon)

 


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