Search

No abstract available

Moving from theory to practice in higher education is deeply challenging. While exploring pedagogical models in the literature may lead to tacit understanding of general principles, actually implementing these principles in practice can be an entirely different matter...

Teaching in higher education in the 21st century can be a demanding and complex role and academic educators around the globe are dealing with questions related to change. This paper describes a new type of a professional development program for teaching faculty, using a pedagogical model based on the principles of authentic e-learning. The program was developed with the help of an iterative educational design research process and rapid prototyping based on on-going research and redesign. This paper describes how the findings of the evaluations guided the design process and how the impact of the measures taken was in turn researched, in order to eventually identify and refine design principles for an authentic e-learning program for international teaching faculty professional development.

Studies show that affordances of social media have not yet been fully exploited in the promotion of authentic e-learning in higher education. The e-Learning of the Future project (2009-2011) has met these challenges through working life mentoring using social media. In this paper, we examine the planning and implementation of social media in nine project courses and how these changes support authentic learning. A further focus of interest is the role of working life mentors in the process. The outcomes indicate that the introduction of social media measures strongly supported the strengthening of authentic learning principles (Herrington & Oliver, 2000) on the courses. Revisions to learning tasks centred on establishing connections to expert communities, the use of blogs, and the compilation of recorded entrepreneurial narratives. Working life mentors brought an up-to-date, work-oriented perspective to the process and highlighted skills required by workplaces of the future. Developing educational tasks that cross traditional boundaries raises issues of operational culture change, the roles of partners and transparency of education, and these implications are discussed in the paper.

Authentic learning pedagogy not only allows students to engage in realistic tasks using real-world resources and tools, but it also provides opportunities for students to learn with intention by thinking and acting like professionals as they address real problems. This paper describes a research conducted in a first year university course, where social media were used to support authentic and intentional learning. Principles of authentic learning guided the design of the course, and learning tasks and activities focused on the completion of realistic and complex tasks. Students’ mental effort was expended largely on the creation of polished and accomplished products, rather than on the completion of a series of decontextualised or step-by-step exercises. Importantly, opportunities for reflection were provided through the completion of a complex and collaborative task, a journal and a reflective examination. A qualitative study of two cohorts of students was conducted, as part of a larger design-based research agenda, over a period of two years. Findings showed that providing such course elements to facilitate reflection allowed students to reflect both in action as they participated in the course tasks and on action as they wrote about their learning experiences.

This study sought to determine the critical elements of an authentic learning activity, design them into an applicable framework and then use this framework to guide the design, development and application of work-relevant assessment. Its purpose was to formulate an effective model of task design and assessment. The first phase of the study identified from the literature critical elements that determined assessment as being authentic, and presented these to practitioners and experts for feedback. In phase two, it codified the elements into a framework that was then applied to the redesign of assessments in an army course. Phase three involved student evaluation of the redesigned assessment activities. This led to further review and revision of elements in phase four. The study outcomes suggest that it is possible, by identifying and codifying individual elements, to determine the ways in which the authenticity of an individual assessment activity might be enhanced. The paper concludes with a literature update on the framework elements that lead to suggestions for further research.

Authentic learning is a pedagogical approach that situates learning tasks in the context of future use. Over the last two decades, authentic learning designs have captured the imaginations of innovative educators who see the approach as a means to enable students to develop robust knowledge that transfers to real-world practice. Authentic learning has its foundations in the theory of situated cognition, together with other pedagogical approaches developed over the last two decades, such as anchored instruction. It offers an alternative instructional model based upon sound principles for the design and implementation of complex and realistic learning tasks. The technologies associated with technology-based learning provide ideal conditions for the implementation of the approach, both in blended and fully online courses. New Web-based technologies and mobile devices provide affordances—as both cognitive tools and delivery platforms—for dissemination of polished and professional authentic learning experiences. As educational institutions increasingly embrace the internet and Web-supported learning, the potential exists for authentic learning environments to be used widely to improve student learning. This chapter reviews the seminal and recent literature in the field, and provides a model of authentic learning for the design of learning environments across educational sectors.

Although emerging technologies are becoming popularised for teaching, learning and research, the relationship between their use and transformative effects on higher education remain largely unexplored. This edited collection seeks to fill this gap by providing a nuanced view, locating higher education pedagogical practices at an intersection of emerging technologies, authentic learning and activity systems. Providing numerous case studies as examples, the book draws from a wide range of contexts to illustrate how such a convergence has the potential to track transformative teaching and learning practices in the higher education sector. Chapters provide the reader with a variety of transformative higher education pedagogical practices in southern contexts, theorised within the framework of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and tool mediation, while using authentic learning as a pedagogical model upon which this theoretical framework is based. The topics covered in the book have global relevance, with research paying particular attention to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, where the authors are based. The book will be of interest to educators, researchers and practitioners in higher education, as well as those interested in emerging technologies in education more generally.

Editorial

This edited collection provides a vision for the reconceptualization of higher education pedagogy. It provides many examples of the use of CulturalHistorical Activity Theory (CHAT) as an analytical tool and heuristic for the design of authentic learning activities, through the effective use of emerging technologies. The use of CHAT is central to this vision, in particular, Engeström’s articulation of CHAT in his systems model has been exemplifi ed in the chapters of this edited collection, particularly in Part I, as well as in the case studies of effective practices that demonstrate expansive learning. The chapters on authentic learning (AL) in Part II, and related case studies, also show how CHAT can be used as a theoretical foundation underpinning the principles of AL. Thus, the interaction between CHAT and AL is well illustrated in the chapters of this edited collection. The usefulness of the principles of AL to evaluate and to inform the design of pedagogical practices is also illustrated with reference to a variety of disciplines (such as health science education, women’s and gender studies, entrepreneurship, and innovation), and across different higher education institutions in a range of locations.

Heutagogy is a relatively new learning and teaching framework. Heutagogy advocates student-centred learning and teaching strategies where the learning is directed and determined by the learner. At the time when heutagogy was conceptualised as a teaching framework (in 2000), the web was still in its infancy. More than a decade later, the web has evolved from being transmission focused (Web 1.0) to participatory in nature (Web 2.0). At the same time, mobile technologies such as smartphones and tablets have amplified the capabilities and ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used. In this paper, we look at how mobile devices and social media can support and offer unique opportunities for using heutagogy as a pedagogical framework. A set of design principles is proposed resulting from a review of literature on heutagogy, social media and mLearning. The design principles provide educators with a guide on how to utilise the unique affordances of Web 2.0 tools and mobile devices in implementing learner directed and determined learning or life long learning.

In the rapidly globalizing 21st century knowledge society, multicultural understanding plays a major role. However, what do we mean by “culture” in the educational context, what aspects have or should have an impact on our learning environments, and might some of these assumptions direct the development of our learning environments in an unintended and possibly undesirable way? New learning models that differ from traditional learning approaches might cause a type of a “learning culture shock” for some learners. What are the best ways to avoid and overcome cultural clashes in online learning? This chapter discusses the experiences of two cases from multicultural and multidisciplinary online programs for teacher education and professional development. Both of the programs are based on the principles of authentic e-learning framework described by Herrington, Reeves, and Oliver (2010). The aim of the study was to find out how learners with different cultural backgrounds experience the authentic e-learning process, as well as to find out what impact the authentic e-learning model has on the development of the learning culture.

As more and more children bring personal mobile devices to school, schools struggle to formulate policies that acknowledge their power as learning tools. Until quite recently, policy often simply prohibited the use of mobile phones in any form while on school grounds, despite parental approval for students to carry them for personal safety and convenience.

As more and more children bring personal mobile devices to school, schools struggle to formulate policies that acknowledge their power as learning tools. Until quite recently, policy often simply prohibited the use of mobile phones in any form while on school grounds, despite parental approval for students to carry them for personal safety and convenience.

No abstract available

No abstract available

No abstract available

No abstract available

With a significant investment in digital technologies in Australian schools, the effective integration of such technology into teaching and learning is paramount. A growing body of evidence indicates that ICT professional learning is integral to the transformation of pedagogy that will improve student learning outcomes. The question arises as to how professional learning is planned and delivered within schools to ensure that all needs are being met. The purpose of this paper is to report on the research findings of a study into professional learning and ICT integration. The TPACK conceptual framework underpins the analyses of the data and brings forth the importance of technological and pedagogical knowledge. Six key categories will be discussed and the implication for practice will be considered.

Many education providers grapple with “where” to host their online education community. While many have invested significant funding and time into developing a user specific solution, others are using alternative open source software solutions that provide a just in time response. This research paper reports on the importance of the engagement of an online community within an open source learning management system, presents the key aspects of communication occurring and romanticizes the notion that a user specific solution is not a necessary consideration.

This paper describes lessons learnt whilst using an online peer review system in an undergraduate unit for pre-service teachers. In this unit, students learn to use information technologies as part of their future teaching practice. The unit aims to foster graduates who become lifelong reflective educators by providing opportunities to explore and reflect on how they might use technology in authentic learning situations. Whilst peer review is an appropriate activity for supporting critical thinking and reflective practice in this kind of unit, it requires a number of decisions to be made in relation to student preparation and support, implementation strategy, and technological infrastructure to make it work in specific contexts. Much research has been conducted in recent years to inform educators in making these decisions. However, there are still gaps in the research, particularly in how to improve the quality and consistency of feedback that students give to each other in their feedback. This paper describes the experiences of implementing an online peer review system aiming to improve quality and consistency of feedback. This exploration has revealed that we can learn much about ways to improve our teaching practices by giving students an opportunity to review each other's work and give feedback.

Over the past few decades there has been a substantial swing among higher education practitioners towards a more constructivist approach to learning. Nevertheless, it is still evident that many instructivist models are widely used in both classroom and online learning environments. A key challenge for educators is linking learner needs, pedagogy and technology in order to construct more interactive, engaging and student-centred environments that promote 21st century skills and encourage self-directed learning. Existing research suggests that the use of real-life tasks supported by new technologies, together with access to the vast array of open educational resources on the Internet, have the potential to improve the quality of online learning. This article describes how an authentic online professional development course for higher education practitioners was designed and implemented using a learning management system (LMS) and an open companion website. It then discusses how the initial iteration of the course was evaluated and provides recommendations for improving the second iteration. Finally it describes how the second iteration was modified and implemented.

It is now widely accepted that the transmission of disciplinary knowledge is insufficient to prepare students leaving higher education for the workplace. Authentic learning has been suggested as a way to bring the necessary complexity into learning to deal with challenges in professional practice after graduation. This study investigates how South African higher educators have used emerging technologies to achieve the characteristics of authentic learning. A survey was administered to a population of 265 higher educators in South Africa who self-identified as engaging with emerging technologies. From this survey, a sample of 21 respondents were selected to further investigate their practice through in-depth interviewing using Herrington, Reeves and Oliver's nine characteristics of authentic learning as a framework. Interrater analysis undertaken by five members of the research team revealed both consistencies and differences among the twenty one cases across the nine elements of authentic learning. The highest levels of authenticity were found for the elements authentic context and task, and the lowest for articulation. Furthermore, there was a moderate correlation identified between levels of authenticity and the role played by emerging technologies in achieving the authenticity, showing a potentially symbiotic relationship between them.

Employing emerging technologies in learning is becoming increasingly important as a means to support the development of digital media literacy. Using a theoretical framework of authentic learning and technology as cognitive tools, this paper examined student responses to the infusion of emerging technologies in a large first year teacher education unit over two full iterations, using a design-based research approach. This paper describes the pedagogical context of the intervention, the methodology used, and it presents an analysis of themes emerging from the data relating to the use of emerging technologies.

The implementation of authentic learning elements at education institutions in five countries, eight online courses in total, is examined in this paper. The International Virtual Benchmarking Project (2009-2010) applied the elements of authentic learning developed by Herrington and Oliver (2000) as criteria to evaluate authenticity. Twelve teachers in four benchmarking pairs applied these elements to compare practices and identify development challenges in their online courses. The results indicate multiple roles and perspectives and scaffolding were the most strongly implemented elements. Collaborative construction of knowledge was implemented weakly. Development challenges were identified, such as continuous evaluation in authentic assessment. The project raised teachers’ awareness of cultural background as a factor affecting views on authentic e-learning. Differences in the culture code of e-learning among Finland, Korea, Canada, Belgium and UK are items to consider when developing multicultural learning.

The profile of university students is changing, as a larger percentage of the population fill our online and on-campus classrooms. A new teacher education program commenced at an Australian university in 2011, with an explicit focus on applied learning. The course highlights a pedagogy whose time may have (finally) arrived in higher education. A set of design principles, underpinned theoretically by contemporary learning philosophies have been developed to provide a guiding framework for course developers and teaching staff in the fully online program. This paper describes the applied learning design principles; how they manifest in course development and delivery, and the study being undertaken to examine their effectiveness. The research seeks to identify the extent to which the course design better enables students to integrate theory with practice, and develop the skills required in their workplace. This study is designed to create a set of tested design principles to encourage and support applied learning design in higher education settings.

Risk assessment is used to identify potential hazards and prioritize those that may be most likely to have a significant impact. While widely used in the aviation, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, formalized risk assessments are not often used for instructional interventions such as e-learning. As part of a formative evaluation for a new e-learning course, facilitators and design team members performed a risk assessment on topics related to the technology used in the course, the communication of mentors and participants, sustainability, and evaluation. With this information, the design team and mentors prepared a risk management plan, identifying ways to prevent unwanted events as well as to plan for contingencies in the case of their occurrence. The framework of the plan is described, together with details of its implementation in a formative evaluation of the course.

This paper describes lessons learnt whilst using an online peer review system in an undergraduate unit for pre-service teachers. In this unit students learn to use information technologies as part of their future teaching practice. The unit aims to foster graduates who become life-long reflective educators by providing opportunities to explore and reflect on how they might use technology in authentic learning situations. Whilst peer review is an appropriate activity for supporting critical thinking and reflective practice in this kind of unit, it requires a number of decisions to be made in relation to student preparation and support, implementation strategy, and technological infrastructure to make it work in specific contexts. Much research has been conducted in recent years to inform educators in making these decisions. However, there are still gaps in the research, particularly in how to improve the quality and consistency of feedback that students give to each other in their feedback. This paper describes the experiences of implementing an online peer review system aiming to improve quality and consistency of feedback. This exploration has revealed that we can learn much about ways to improve our teaching practices by giving students an opportunity to review each other’s work and give each other feedback.

A key challenge for university professionals is to identify how to construct more interactive, engaging and student-centred environments that promote 21st century skills and encourage selfdirected learning. Existing research suggests the use of real-life tasks supported by new technologies, together with access to the vast array of open educational resources on the Internet, have the potential to improve the quality of online learning. This paper describes how an authentic online professional development course for higher education practitioners was designed and implemented using a learning management system (LMS) and an open companion website. It also briefly discusses how the initial iteration was evaluated and identifies recommendations for improving future iterations of the course

In the three short years since the release of the iPad, it has become the object of substantial investment in a number of areas of education. This investment is driving the need for significant research into mobile device related teaching and pedagogy. The focus of this paper is on the first iteration of a design - based research study, which is informed by theories of authentic learning, cognitive tools and mobile learning. This paper is an introductory exploration into the use of iPads, and the apps and services they run, as cognitive tools in an authentic tertiary learning environment. This paper highlights a range of iPad apps and Web 2.0 services used in the study, and methods for their potential use to augment the learning experience in a business education context.

One major element of supply chain management education is helping learners to grasp the complexity, the challenges, and the efficient management of the multiple dimensions in supply chains. Each decision made can ‘ripple’ through supply chains and have serious repercussions that may include causing millions of dollars in damage or triggering a chain of events that degrade the quality of life for people, society, or the environment. We can teach relevant theory and train learners for some situations that do not require immediate responses. However, we remain disadvantaged by the constraints of time and space; observation of a real supply chain is often unpractical, and lengthy times for transports exceeding any class duration. In this paper, we present the nDiVE project which creates a supply chain story to immerse learners, provide an authentic experience in a realistic environment, and apply traditional and advanced gamification mechanisms to engage and motivate learners.

This paper addresses the largely 'inauthentic' pedagogical approaches in current classroom and distance-learning environments, and will propose a methodology that utilises existing technologies to provide an immersive and authentic experience in education; that is to bridge the gap between the academic perspective and the real-world requirements. Industry postulate that recent graduates lack requisite skills, are often ignorant of the workings of company cultures, and are uncertain how to transfer their university-acquired theoretical knowledge to effective practice. We propose an environment that increases authenticity through inclusion of real-life complexity modelled in an immersive scenario, links scenarios into a comprehensive supply chain that supports exchange of information and repercussions/effects from actions between modules, and includes gaming mechanisms to increase student engagement further. In particular, the gaming mechanisms encourage student engagement (and better manage their interaction/learning process with in a stepwise fashion, rather than 'throwing them in the deep end'), reflection, and learning from the flow-on effects of an interlinked immersive, authentic, virtual, awesome, environment.

Tampere University of Applied Sciences has developed a postgraduate certificate program for teaching in higher education that is currently being implemented at Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates. In the design of the program, the principles of authentic e-learning (Herrington, Reeves, & Oliver 2010) have been used as a guideline. This paper examines how the design principles have been transferred into practice and how the elements of authentic learning have been realized from the student perspective. The experiences of the students have been mapped in a survey conducted after the first semester of the program. The data was analyzed with the help of the authentic e-learning framework in order to identify the challenges and successes regarding the implementation of the elements of authentic e-learning and thus draw guidelines for future development.

Increasing flexibility in higher education is being provided to meet the needs of a diverse student body. Technologies such as lecture-capture systems, e.g. Lectopia, have been employed by many universities to provide flexibility through on-demand access to recorded lectures. The analysis of student access to these systems is a growing area of interest for teachers in higher education wishing to improve the student learning experience. This presentation reports on the development of a learning analytic tool to examine Lectopia usage logs to identify usage patterns among students. It then describes a case study conducted as part of a wider multi-university study which offers a detailed snapshot of four students whose access to Lectopia recordings were tracked and analysed. These students were subsequently interviewed to confirm or disconfirm assumptions made about their study methods from the analysis. The data suggest that patterns of use of Lectopia vary greatly across the student cohorts studied. The analysis also revealed that a surface analysis using learning analytics was largely insufficient to determine student study characteristics, but qualitative data provided rich information to supplement that analysis. Suggestions are made for further research into how this emerging methodology can be further developed and strengthened.

As more and more students bring mobile devices (such as mobile phones and tablets/iPads) into classes, teachers in higher education need strategies for dealing with them. Telling students to turn off their devices no longer works, and failing to utilise these powerful devices in learning activities is an opportunity missed. How can teachers make the most of student owned mobile phones and other devices? In this workshop, strategies for mobile learning in university classes will be explored across experiences in three universities (Murdoch, University of Western Sydney, and Curtin). This session will demonstrate a now completed ALTC project entitled 'New technologies, new pedagogies', together with successful pedagogies developed in teacher education and applicable across a range of discipline areas. The session will include demonstrations of the use of mobile devices as cognitive tools at Murdoch, Curtin and UWS. Participants will brainstorm and analyse strategies for using mobile learning in their teaching. Resources and links for mobile learning will also be shared through the recent development of a mobile learning website and community of practice (funded by an ALTC 2011-12 extension of the original project). Products from the original project include the website, http://mlearning.uow.edu.au/, an edited refereed book (downloadable): [http://ro.uow.edu.au/newtech/], and papers at ascilite Conferences [including http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne08/procs/herrington-j.pdf]

A strong body of evidence exists around the power of authentic learning as a pedagogical model to support learning for the future. In recent years, with the increased understanding and focus on authentic learning theory, the educator’s toolkit has continued to grow. Mobile technologies have also undergone rapid change during this time, including the emergence of a new category of mobile tablets inspired by the iPad. For teaching and learning to succeed in the future, we cannot afford to ignore technological and pedagogical change. This paper outlines the motivation and plans behind a study to augment the theory of authentic learning and develop a set of mobile authentic learning principles. The study is informed by the theories of authentic learning, cognitive tools and mobile learning supported by the educational affordances of the iPad. Design based research methodology will be employed to ensure the rigor of the study through two iterations of experimentation with a first year tertiary information systems for business course.