An introduction to Sydney eLearning Strategic Projects

This session looked at the Sydney eLearning Strategic Project process, with an explanation of the Expressions Of Interest process.

Two Stategic Project site owners explained how the project process assisted in the development of their sites.

To watch the session video click here(MP4 video 42MB; requires Quicktime)

Presentation handout

Providing feedback for online Assignments and Discussions

This session looked at some ways of providing feedback to students.

Presenter 1: Jim Woulfe, Educational Designer, Faculty of Pharmacy

Topic: Anonymous peer review
This presentation followed the steps involved in setting up an anonymous peer-assessed assignment in a CE6 Unit of Study site. Jim  also briefly outlined the results of a formal investigation into the use of this assignment type with 181 Pharmacy students.

Presentation PowerPoint

Instructions for setting up an anonymous peer review
Presentation handout

Poster

Presenter 2: Rebecca Johinke, Lecturer, Department of English
Topic: Assessed online discussions
Rebecca talked about her recent experiences using peer evaluations in an assessed online discussion forums (with grading forms).

Presentation PowerPoint

Instructions for students and grading rubric
Presentation handout

To watch the session video click here(MP4 video 31MB; requires Quicktime)

A pedagogical framework for online discussions

In this session, Associate Professor Sandra West from the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery presented the pedagogical approach she is takingin one of her master's level units of study to stimulate online discussion using Socratic questioning. This approach was used to focus on the development of student skills in the formulation of effective questioning as well as the development of knowledge seeking behaviours that would facilitate advanced clinical practice. Professor West discussed the use of her eLearning site to scaffold the sequence of discussions.

To watch the session video click here(MP4 video 56MB; requires Quicktime)

Providing feedback for online Assignments and Discussions

This session looked at some ways of providing feedback to students.

Presenter 1: Jim Woulfe, Educational Designer, Faculty of Pharmacy

Topic: Anonymous peer review
This presentation followed the steps involved in setting up an anonymous peer-assessed assignment in a CE6 Unit of Study site. Jim  also briefly outlined the results of a formal investigation into the use of this assignment type with 181 Pharmacy students.

Presentation PowerPoint

Instructions for setting up an anonymous peer review
Presentation handout

Poster

Presenter 2: Rebecca Johinke, Lecturer, Department of English
Topic: Assessed online discussions
Rebecca talked about her recent experiences using peer evaluations in an assessed online discussion forums (with grading forms).

Presentation PowerPoint

Instructions for students and grading rubric
Presentation handout

To watch the session video click here (MP4 video 31MB; requires Quicktime

Facilitators: Jason Wheatley and Robert Moorman

This session looked at the Audio Visual services available on campus with regards to both producing teaching materials and using the new AV systems that have been installed in lecture theatres.

• How to make the most of presentations and lectures using tools like projectors, interactive pens and document cameras.
• Presentation of the new AV help video player; where to find it, how to use it.
• Using interactivity in a learning environment for teaching and assessment through the use of interactive keypads.
• Training and consultancy options for video and new media production in the University offered by AV services.
• An overview of trends and future roll out of AV systems in lecture theatres

Facilitator: Peter Kench

This session looked at an eLearning tool to streamline peer assessment.

The session included:

• using peer assessment to encourage individual student involvement
• gathering student peer assessment data using web based forms
• incorporating the web based form into the Sydney eLearning environment discussion on the outcomes.

This eLearning tool is available to other University staff with similar interests.

Please email

Peer assessment method - instructions for setup

Link to an article (in press)

Peer assessment of individual contributions to a group project: Student perceptions

Radiography, In Press. Corrected Proof. Available online 5 June 2008
Peter L Kench, Nikki Field, Maila Agudera, Margo Gill

Copyright

Facilitators: Kate Sexton, Director of Copyright

This session looked at:

• the University's policy on the provision of online student reading materials and clarified which materials must be held in the Library system and which can be located in WebCT.
• the use of images and artistic works
• incorporating material recorded from radion & television broadcasts into online course materials and the use of podcasts.
• some of the recent changes to the Copyright Act

To listen to Session Recording click here [Narrated slideshow; requires Flash]

Delivering Multimedia online

Presenters: Danny Carroll, Jo Lander, Gareth Denyer, Osu Lilje

This session looked at:

• some of the broad issues in relation to delivering Multimedia online as well as specific examples addressed by our academic panel. To listen to the recordings of the lectures, click on the links below. [Narrated slideshow; requires Flash])
• Introduction and overview to the topic:
  Danny Carroll - To listen to Session recording click here[Narrated slideshow; requires Flash]
• The approach taken by Public Health:
  Jo Lander - To listen to Session recording click here[Narrated slideshow; requires Flash]
• Open academic dialogues in Microbiology:
  Gareth Denyer - To listen to Session recording click here [Narrated slideshow; requires Flash]
• Human Biology Online:
  Osu Lilje - To listen to Session recording click here[Narrated slideshow; requires Flash]

Distance at Sydney: Fully online courses in an on-campus environment

Facilitators: Hannah Forsyth, Sub-Dean, Postgraduate Coursework, Faculty of Veterinary Science

Sydney is definitely not a distance education institution, yet there are around 22 fully online postgraduate coursework programs and there is an increasing expectation that distance will be a part of the mainstream of all educational institutions. Hannah Forsyth has been running high-quality online programs since 2003 and in this session she reflected on the challenges and issues in offering fully online courses in a non-Distance institution. She reported on the experiences of setting up online programs in the Veterinary faculty and on the outcomes of a recent Distance at Sydney workshop.

Watch and listen to the Powerpoint presentation

To listen to Session recording click here[Narrated slideshow; requires Flash]

Copyright

Facilitators: Sten Christensen and Kate Sexton, University of Sydney Library

Confused about copyright? Uncertain about the use of copyright material in online courses?

This session will explain the University's policy on the provision of online student reading materials and demystify some of the complexities of copyright. These include: the limit on the amount of material which can be reproduced and communicated; the use of images and artistic works; incorporating material recorded from radio and television broadcasts into your online course materials

Blogging

Facilitators: Kate Simpson, Mary-Helen Ward, Sandra West

Confused about blogs? Uncertain about the use of blog material in online courses?

Newly available blogging software can be put to many educational uses.
For example, it provides a powerful tool for student journalling and reflection, class community building and knowledge sharing among research team members. This session will briefly explain what blogs are and how they work. It will also present some of the ways that this software is being used at The University of Sydney.

Improving learning with electronic portfolios

Facilitator: Nick Carroll

The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney are currently trialling an e-portfolio system called dotFOLIO in a first year engineering unit of study called ENGG1803 Professional Engineering. The Faculty required an e-portfolio system to implement part of their Generic Graduate Attributes (GGAs) strategy. The GGAs are core skills and competencies that a student should obtain upon successfully completing a degree. The attributes differ between degrees, however the attributes that best characterise an engineer are: Communication; Ethical, Social and Professional Understanding; Personal and Intellectual Autonomy; Information Literacy; Research and Inquiry. Developing a tool that can be used to support and nurture these attributes is a challenge. Therefore, the purpose of trialling dotFOLIO is to determine whether it can be used by students to manage and develop their GGAs, as well as to showcase evidence of obtaining the GGAs.

This presentation reports our experiences with using dotFOLIO in a first year engineering unit of study. More specifically, the presentation focuses on the blogging application that dotFOLIO provides, and how it was used to facilitate an assessable online reflective logbook. Details of the reflective logbook task and how it contributes to the communication and information literacy GGAs will be discussed. dotFOLIO and the blogging application will be presented, along with results of a survey used to evaluate student perceptions of using dotFOLIO's blogging application for the logbook task.

Online discussions - Where is the Interaction?

Facilitators: Sue Silveira and Helen Wozniak, School of Applied Vision Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences

This presentation outlined the presenters' research into the effects of orientation tutorials on student interactivity online.

For four years the School of Applied Vision Sciences had been using the My eLearning online discussion feature to facilitate the translation of knowledge into the clinical environment with 3rd and 4th year undergraduate students, using case analysis.

During 2003 the learning outcomes were analyzed by examining the content of the interactions in the discussion groups, and final grades. It was found that students did not necessarily participate to the expected level of interactivity that was desired (Silveira and Wozniak, 2003), which is consistent with the findings of other research (Ellis et al, 2004).

In 2004, to facilitate greater interactivity, the moderators developed a series of tutorials that orientated students to the online environment and promoted the need for meaningful discussion through engagement with other students. Students participated in a practice discussion, analyzing the timing, threading and cognitive level of their postings. These activities modeled information exchange and knowledge construction, as described in Stage 3 and 4 of Salmon's (2000) Model of Teaching & Learning Online Through Computer Mediated Communication.

The research showed that orientation sessions improved online interactivity.

Copyright

Facilitators: Sten Christensen and Kate Sexton, University of Sydney Library

This session explained the University's policy on the provision of online student reading materials and the complexities of copyright.

Sten and Kate explained the limitations on the reproduction of copyrighted materials. They also covered the use of images and artistic works in course materials as well as the use of material recorded from radio and television broadcasts.

Case studies

Gerard demonstrated the online case-based learning activities he has developed for the Faculty of Veterinary Science and discussed the different approaches to delivering these types of activities.