The importance of a new kind of learning in collaborative networks

There is wide agreement that in order to manage the increasingly complex and uncertain tasks of business, government and community, organizations can no longer operate in supreme isolation, but must develop a more networked approach. Networks are not ‘business as usual’. Of particular note is what has been referred to as collaborative networks. Collaborative networks now constitute a significant part of our institutional infrastructure. A key driver for the proliferation of these multiorganizational arrangements is their ability to facilitate the learning and knowledge necessary to survive or to respond to increasingly complex social issues In this regard the emphasis is on the importance of learning in networks. Learning applies to networks in two different ways. These refer to the kinds of learning that occur as part of the interactive processes of networks. This paper looks at the importance of these two kinds of learning in collaborative networks. The first kind of learning relates to networks as learning networks or communities of practice. In learning networks people exchange ideas with each other and bring back this new knowledge for use in their own organizations. The second type of learning is referred to as network learning. Network learning refers to how people in collaborative networks learn new ways of communicating and behaving with each other. Network learning has been described as transformational in terms of leading to major systems changes and innovation. In order to be effective, all networks need to be involved as learning networks; however, collaborative networks must also be involved in network learning to be effective. In addition to these two kinds of learning in collaborative networks this paper also focuses on the importance of how we learn about collaborative networks. Maximizing the benefits of working through collaborative networks is dependent on understanding their unique characteristics and how this impacts on their operation. This requires a new look at how we specifically teach about collaborative networks and how this is similar to and/or different from how we currently teach about interorgnizational relations.

Required hours of practice for learner drivers : a comparison between two Australian jurisdictions

Problem: This study considers whether requiring learner drivers to complete a set number of hours while on a learner licence affects the amount of hours of supervised practice that they undertake. It compares the amount of practice that learners in Queensland and New South Wales report undertaking. At the time the study was conducted, learner drivers in New South Wales were required to complete 50 hours of supervised practice while those from Queensland were not. Method: Participants were approached outside driver licensing centres after they had just completed their practical driving test to obtain their provisional (intermediate) licence. Those agreeing to participate were interviewed over the phone later and asked a range of questions to obtain information including socio-demographic details and amount of supervised practice completed. Results: There was a significant difference in the amount of practice that learners reported undertaking. Participants from New South Wales reported completing a significantly greater amount of practice (M = 73.3 hours, sd = 29.12 hours) on their learner licence than those from Queensland (M = 64.1 hours, sd = 51.05 hours). However, the distribution of hours of practice among the Queensland participants was bimodal in nature. Participants from Queensland reported either completing much less or much more practice than the New South Wales average. Summary: While it appears that the requirement that learner drivers complete a set number of hours may increase the average amount of hours of practice obtained, it may also serve to discourage drivers from obtaining additional practice, over and above the required hours. Impact on Industry: The results of this study suggest that the implications of requiring learner drivers to complete a set number of hours of supervised practice are complex. In some cases, policy makers may inadvertently limit the amount of hours learners obtain to the mandated amount rather than encouraging them to obtain as much practice as possible.

Matching intention with agency : lessons from practice

The research project described in this paper was designed to explore the potential of a wiki to facilitate collaboration and to reduce the isolation of postgraduate students enrolled in a professional doctoral program at a Queensland university. It was also intended to foster a community of practice for reviewing and commenting on one another’s work despite the small number of students and their disparate topics. The students were interviewed and surveyed at the beginning and during the face-to-face sessions of the course and their wikis were examined over the year to monitor, analyse and evaluate the extent to which the agency of the technology (wiki) mediated their development of scholarly skills. The study showed that students paradoxically eschewed use of the structured wiki and formed their own informal networks. This paper will contend that this paradox arose from a mismatch between the agency of technology and its intended purpose.

An exploratory study of online social networking within a Doctorate of Education program

The professional doctorate is a degree that is specifically designed for professionals investigating real-world problems and relevant issues for a profession, industry and/or the community. The exploratory study on which this paper is based sought to track the scholarly skill development of a cohort of professional doctoral students who commenced their course in January 2008 at an Australian university. Via an initial survey and two focus groups held six months apart, the study aimed to determine if there had been any qualitative shifts in students’ understandings, expectations and perceptions regarding their developing knowledge and skills. Three key findings that emerged from this study were: (i) the appropriateness of using a blended learning approach in this professional doctoral program; (ii) the challenges of using wikis as an online technology for creating communities of practice; and (iii) the transition from professional to scholar is a process that requires the guided support inherent in the design of this particular doctorate of education program.

Revisiting 'how we learn' in academia : practice-based learning exchanges in three Australian universities

Ideas of 'how we learn' in formal academic settings have changed markedly in recent decades. The primary position that universities once held on shaping what constitutes learning has come into question from a range of experience-led and situated learning models. Drawing on findings from a study conducted across three Australian universities, the article focuses on the multifarious learning experiences indicative of practice-based learning exchanges such as student placements. Building on both experiential and situated learning theories, the authors found that students can experience transformative and emotional elucidations of learning, that can challenge tacit assumptions and transform the ways they understand the world. It was found that all participants (hosts, students, academics) both teach and learn in these educative scenarios and that, contrary to common (mis)perceptions that academics live in 'ivory towers', they play a crucial role in contributing to learning that takes place in the so-called 'real world'.

Public service broadcasting, creative industries and innovation infrastructure : the case of ABC's Pool

The proliferation of media services enabled by digital technologies poses a serious challenge to public service broadcasting rationales based on media scarcity. Looking to the past and future, we articulate an important role that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) might play in the digital age. We argue that historically the ABC has acted beyond its institutional broadcasting remit to facilitate cultural development and, drawing on the example of Pool (an online community of creative practitioners established and maintained by the ABC), point to a key role it might play in fostering network innovation in what are now conceptualised as the creative industries.

Out of time: The moral temporality of sex, crime and taboo

This paper discusses the relationship between law and morality. Morality does not necessarily coincide with the law, but it contributes to it. An act may be legal but nevertheless considered to be immoral in a particular society. For example, the use of pornography may be considered by many to be immoral. Nevertheless, the sale and distribution of non-violent, non-child related, sexually explicit material is legal (or regulated) in many jurisdictions. Many laws are informed by, and even created by, morality. This paper examines the historical influence of morality on the law and on society in general. It aims to develop a theoretical framework for examining legal moralism and the social construction of morality and crime as well as the relationship between sex, desire and taboo. Here, we refer to the moral temporality of sex and taboo, which examines the way in which moral judgments about sex and what is considered taboo change over time, and the kinds of justifications that are employed in support of changing moralities. It unpacks the way in which abstract and highly tenuous concepts such as ‘‘desire’’, ‘‘art’’ and ‘‘entertainment’’ may be ‘‘out of time’’ with morality, and how morality shapes laws over time, fabricating justifications from within socially constructed communities of practice. This theoretical framework maps the way in which these concepts have become temporally dominated by heteronormative structures such as the family, marriage, reproduction, and longevity. It is argued that the logic of these structures is inexorably tied to the heterosexual life-path, charting individual lives and relationships through explicit phases of childhood, adolescence and adulthood that, in the twenty-first century, delimit the boundaries of taboo surrounding sex more than any other time in history.

GCAP 2010 presentation : jams, jellybeans and the fruits of passion

In 2010 we realised that our fifth 48 hour game making competition was more than a mere event but that we were actually watching our local games industry enact a very intense process of community making and reflective practice. This presentation of our early research on the event was an invited spectacle at the Games Connect Australia Pacific Conference 2010 held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, 14-15 October 2010. Abstract: Jams, Jellybeans and the fruit of passion: if games are about creating innovative player experience, then the place to start is how we set up game design education as an experience Authors: truna aka j.turner – Brisbane IGDA & Lubi Thomas, Mt Nebo Studios The 48 hour game making challenge has grown since it started in 2007 to accommodate 20 teams, some of the teams are professionals, some are made of people who are working in other industries, most are made of students from the various tertiary institutes around town. We still don’t quite understand why these mad people sign up for 48 hours of intense creativity just for the jelly beans we hand out as prizes but we do suspect that the space we give them and the passion they bring to the event offers those of us involved in the education side of the games industry really vital insights into what is critical and important in terms of education. The Australian games industry really needs these people, they are bright and ingenious and they make the most amazing games. But you won't get them by telling tertiary institutions what you fancy this year in terms of skills and criteria; you will get them by fostering their creativity and passion. If games are about creating innovative player experience, then the place to start is how we set up game design education as an experience.

Building support for learning within a Doctor of Education programme

Professional doctorates were introduced in the 1990s for practitioners to research ‘real-world’ problems relevant to their respective workplace communities and contexts. An array of difficulties faces professional doctoral students as they transition from professionals to practitioner researchers. This study sought to understand the learning journey of a cohort of students at an Australian university and to assess whether the cohort approach provided the necessary support for students to reach their scholarly destinations. Throughout the first 18 months of the programme, focus group interviews and surveys were conducted to gauge students’ experiences and to evaluate developments for support within the programme. Utilising a socio-cultural perspective helped identify and explain the importance of shared practice in fostering learning, the development of academic and researcher identities, and the role of communities of practice. Challenges of managing time and overcoming the professional and academe divide were facilitated by the evolving developments of the programme.

The changing face of practice for developing perception : action skill in cricket

The use of bowling machines is common practice in cricket. In an ideal world all batters would face real bowlers in practice sessions, but this is not always possible, for many reasons. The clear advantage of using bowling machines is that they alleviate the workload required from bowlers (Dennis, Finch & Farhart, 2005) and provide relatively consistent and accurate ball delivery which may not be otherwise available to many young batters. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many, if not most of the world’s greatest players use these methods within their training schedules. For example, Australian internationals, Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden extensively used bowling machines (Hussey & Sygall, 2007). Bowling machines enable batsmen to practice for long periods, developing their endurance and concentration. However, despite these obvious benefits, in recent times the use of bowling machines has been questioned by sport scientists, coaches, ex- players and commentators. For example, Hussey’s batting coach comments “…we never went near a bowling machine in [Michael’s] first couple of years, I think there’s something to that …” (Hussey & Sygall, 2007, p. 119). This chapter will discuss the efficacy of using bowling machines with reference to research findings, before reporting new evidence that provides support for an alternative, innovative and possibly more representative practice design. Finally, the chapter will provide advice for coaches on the implications of this research, including a case study approach to demonstrate the practical use of such a design.

The current context of Queensland primary teacher engagement with professional learning through professional associations

Engaging Queensland primary teachers in professional associations can be a challenge, particularly for subject-specific associations. Professional associations are recognised providers of professional learning. By not being involved in professional associations primary teachers are missing potential quality professional learning opportunities that can impact the results of their students. The purpose of the research is twofold: Firstly, to provide a thorough understanding of the current context in order to assist professional associations who wish to change from their current level of primary teacher engagement; and secondly, to contribute to the literature in the area of professional learning for primary teachers within professional associations. Using a three part research design, interviews of primary teachers and focus groups of professional association participants and executives were conducted and themed to examine the current context of engagement. Force field analysis was used to provide the framework to identify the driving and restraining forces for primary teacher engagement in professional learning through professional associations. Communities of practice and professional learning communities were specifically examined as potential models for professional associations to consider. The outcome is a diagrammatic framework outlining the current context of primary teacher engagement, specifically the driving and restraining forces of primary teacher engagement with professional associations. This research also identifies considerations for professional associations wishing to change their level of primary teacher engagement. The results of this research show that there are key themes that provide maximum impact if wishing to increase engagement of primary teachers in professional associations. However the implications of this lies with professional associations and their alignment between intent and practice dedicated to this change.