Using an online simulation to address equity issues for off-campus students

The Middle East Politics Simulation (MEPS) is an online role-play exercise aimed at providing students with an improved level of understanding of the political dimensions of the Middle East, including the complexities of negotiation and decision making that face actors in this turbulent region. An online version of MEPS has been running since 1993, initially from Macquarie University, and since 2008 from Deakin University. This longevity provides a useful longitudinal perspective on utilising a collaborative online workplace to offer enhanced learning outcomes in the study of a political topic. The wholly online nature of the simulation means that students of all study modes and even different institutions can participate and benefit equally, thus negating some of the disadvantages faced by off-campus students in learning and assessment. Additionally, the student experience and depth of learning provided by the simulation constitute an excellent example of using the strengths of an e-learning environment to offer an alternative method of engaging and assessing students, which may be beneficial for accommodating the needs of those with differing learning styles.

The teacher education evolution : the shift from online to mobile learning in curriculum, assessment and delivery

Most teacher education programs have online applications. Increasingly teacher education programs are expanding their distance education applications with mobile learning, or m-learning. Although related to online learning, m-learning focuses on the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies. Mobile learning is a big step towards providing flexible teacher education; it has brought about a new forum for learning, decreased limitations of learning location, and provided learners with choices about how and when they access learning materials. Universities are finding themselves grappling with how best to utilize mobile technologies for learning, while staying within their educational missions and resources. In this paper the mobile devices used in higher education and the current status of mobile technologies as learning tools at universities are described. The background of approaches and methods which are currently in use are also discussed, plus universities and teacher readiness for this transformation are also reviewed. Affordances and constraints are considered.

Immersive interfaces for art education teaching and learning in virtual and real world learning environments

Selected ubiquitous technologies encourage collaborative participation between higher education students and educators within a virtual socially networked e-learning landscape. Multiple modes of teaching and learning, ranging from real world experiences, to text and digital images accessed within the Deakin Studies Online learning management system and a constructed virtual world in which the user's creative imagination transports them to the “other side” of their computer screens is discussed in this paper. These constructed environments support interaction between communities of learners and enable multiple simultaneous participants to access graphically built 3D environments, interact with digital artifacts and various functional tools and represent themselves through avatars, to communicate with other participants and engage in collaborative art learning. A narrative interpretative research approach was used to profile the 21st century higher education student learner, to investigate the lived experience and multiple art learning perspectives documented in student visual journal entries and art educator observations to ascertain if an e-technology rich augmented learning environment resulted in the establishment of more effective e-learning communities of practice.

Exploring distributed leadership for the quality management of online learning environments

Online learning environments (OLEs) are complex information technology (IT) systems that intersect with many areas of university organisation. Distributed models of leadership have been proposed as appropriate for the good governance of OLEs. Based on theoretical and empirical research, a group of Australian universities proposed a framework for the quality management of OLEs, and sought to validate the model via a survey of Australasian university representatives with OLE leadership responsibility. For the framework elements: Planning and Resourcing were rated most important; Organisational structure was rated least important; Technologies were rated low in importance and high in satisfaction; Resourcing and Evaluation were rated low in satisfaction; and Resourcing had the highest rating of importance coupled with low satisfaction. Considering distributed leadership in their institution, respondents reported that the organisational alignments represented by 'official' reporting and peer relationships were significantly more important and more effective than the organisational alignments linking the formal and informal leaders. From a range of desirable characteristics of distributed leadership, 'continuity and sustainability' received the highest rating of importance and a low rating of 'in evidence' - there are concerns about the sustainability of distributed leadership for the governance of OLEs in universities.

Quality management of online learning environments : final report of the project : Building distributed leadership in designing and implementing a quality management framework for online learning environments

 The project developed and disseminated, through a distributed leadership approach, an overall framework for the quality management of online learning environments (OLEs) in Australian higher education. The Six Elements of the Online Learning Environment (6EOLE) Quality Management Framework and its guidelines was constructed based on various data collection methods deployed in the project.

The 6EOLE Quality Management Framework, displayed on page six, and accompanying guidelines (i.e. An evidence-based approach to implementation, and A condensed guide) can be used to guide management action to assure and continuously improve the quality of an organisation’s OLE where environmental factors are relatively stable, at least for a period....