International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2009
A lament of some academics wanting to use online learning is their inability to promote dynamic i... more A lament of some academics wanting to use online learning is their inability to promote dynamic interactions. The basic practice of "read and discuss" does not get to the heart of active and engaged learning. Existing approaches recognize participation for successful online conversation, but do not make transparent the role of the academic instructor as mediator. This paper draws on the theory of mediated learning experience (MLE) to introduce humanness in the motivation to engage in tasks, and ultimately promote student empowerment. Guidelines to move discussion beyond "read and discuss" through meaningful, caring, rich, and challenging dialogue are provided. A design-based instructional methodology directed the study.
International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence, 2011
For a number of years, there has been a concerted effort by the United Arab Emirates to take a pr... more For a number of years, there has been a concerted effort by the United Arab Emirates to take a prominent role in introducing e-business initiatives throughout the Gulf region, and this effort has translated into widespread access of internet technology for its own citizens. The country, in setting out to become a hub for foreign and domestic companies, realized that to achieve these goals it must provide appropriate e-business frameworks and infrastructures, which it has successfully done. Although, while not the only means of acquiring digital literacy, regular exposure to the internet does contribute to gaining these necessary 21 st century skills. It might be expected that with such widespread access to the internet the population would contribute to becoming digitally competent. Using an ethnographic case study methodology, this paper investigates issues contributing to what might be a new form of digital divide; cultural issues which limit the acquisition of such digital skills. our interpersonal relationships. The strategic potential of the medium was recognized well over a decade ago by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) who stated:
... Tony Jewels School of Information Systems Queensland University of Technology Rozz Albon Depa... more ... Tony Jewels School of Information Systems Queensland University of Technology Rozz Albon Department of Education Curtin University of Technology ... The reliability of information technology (IT) project delivery is one of the four levels at which Thorp & DMR's Center for ...
This paper describes an alternative approach to teaching and learning in the Faculty of Education... more This paper describes an alternative approach to teaching and learning in the Faculty of Education, Curtin University of Technology. Universities are currently grappling with a shift in paradigms, from a traditional approach which considers learning and proof of learning residing with a single person, to, as yet, an undefined model which embraces the continuing interaction of minds from within a wide social fabric i.e., learning communities. Through a three year project the authors were able to reconceptualise and operationalise teaching and learning through two key components, one being technology which has been the force behind the building of the learning community and the other being assessment which is learner-focused. The authors have developed a Learner Mediated Approach (LMA) based on the nature of learning communities in which multiple approaches to learning reflect the learning process. This approach encapsulates a learning community in which the technology drives the model, and the assessment drives the learning.
International Journal of Information Technology Project Management, 2013
This research sets out to identify cultural factors that may need to be addressed in order to inc... more This research sets out to identify cultural factors that may need to be addressed in order to increase the chances of international IT project success. The management of projects across national boundaries and cultures is becoming an increasingly important topic as organizations throughout the world expand their globalization efforts. Using a case study example of a failed IT project conducted in Taiwan by an Australian project team, the issue of how national cultural differences contributed to this failure is used as the foundation for identifying how cultural differences might affect other international IT projects. Feedback from local students in a United Arab Emirates national university MIS project management course is analyzed and interpreted in an attempt to identify what cultural differences are likely to affect the management of projects in the Middle East region in particular and across national boundaries generally.
The literature confirms that learning occurs through discussions. However, the question of ‘how ’... more The literature confirms that learning occurs through discussions. However, the question of ‘how ’ discussions are conducted in an online environment continues to challenge educators. Technology has recapitulated a discussion approach to aid learning by building tools to enable discussions between multiple users. There appears to be a short supply of research which considers whether these current technologies used in the common Learning Management Systems (LMS) and computer conferencing (CC) enhance or limit learning. The cognitive processing required of learners when they engage in the common threaded messages on many of the LMS platforms, is laboured and cognitively demanding. The structure and content appears to be driven by the need for e-management and eadministration, relegating learning to a secondary position. This paper discusses the psychological reading process and how, if used to drive the technology, the reading and processing of content within discussions may be accesse...
The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching st... more The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching staff the concept of a digital or electronic teaching portfolio is very new a perspective that cannot be ignored. Academic developers have a role to play in their institutions in making the concept of a digital portfolio understood by staff, and making transparent the many and varied options available to them to develop their own electronic portfolio. At one Australian university the elaboration and application of a teaching portfolio as a capstone assessment task has been embedded in a stand-alone Foundations of University Learning and Teaching subject as a way of documenting staff learning about their teaching as they progress through the semesterlong subject. This paper focuses on the processes and application of guiding staff to make the
Preparing university graduates for the world of work must address teamness, a quality essential t... more Preparing university graduates for the world of work must address teamness, a quality essential to working in complex and dynamic organizations. Mutual performance monitoring (MPM) highlighted as a fundamental component in the authors’ initial team learning theory is examined. It was thought that first year university students may not have the skills of MPM to affect high quality team outputs, and our results suggest this is true. It is proposed that students are supported with strategies which legitimize monitoring the work of their team members and that the ideas of collusion, spying and cheating are replaced with teamness. Further, it appears that many academics are unprepared or ill-equipped to prepare students for a world of work in teams. Exposing the naivety of students, presenting perceived and positive changes in team skills and suggesting strategies may provide some pedagogical guidance for academic educators to better implement team learning. This paper explores MPM as a building block in a more comprehensive theory of team learning.
The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching st... more The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching staff the concept of a digital or electronic teaching portfolio is very new-a perspective that cannot be ignored. Academic developers have a role to play in their institutions in making the concept of a digital portfolio understood by staff, and making transparent the many and varied options available to them to develop their own electronic portfolio. At one Australian university the elaboration and application of a teaching portfolio as a capstone assessment task has been embedded in a stand-alone Foundations of University Learning and Teaching subject as a way of documenting staff learning about their teaching as they progress through the semesterlong subject. This paper focuses on the processes and application of guiding staff to make the 56 transition from a print-based to a digital teaching portfolio, and makes recommendations for introducing a digital teaching portfolio into a Foundations subject for academic staff new to teaching and learning in higher education.
When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team memb... more When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team members will contribute much to their immediate levels of productivity. Various types of group work are already being incorporated into higher education pedagogies with the stated intention of preparing students for modern workplace environments. Yet preparing for such an important vocational skill is not always so enthusiastically embraced by students. Many students openly state that they do not like working in groups because they believe that they can achieve better outcomes on their own. We investigate in this paper the metacognitive processes that students might engage in to help explain why group activities in an academic environment may be so unpopular.
When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team memb... more When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team members will contribute much to their immediate levels of productivity. Various types of group work are already being incorporated into higher education pedagogies with the stated intention of preparing students for modern workplace environments. Yet preparing for such an important vocational skill is not always so enthusiastically embraced by students. Many students openly state that they do not like working in groups because they believe that they can achieve better outcomes on their own. We investigate in this paper the metacognitive processes that students might engage in to help explain why group activities in an academic environment may be so unpopular.
When university students are exposed to new learning environments and complex challenging concept... more When university students are exposed to new learning environments and complex challenging concepts they find themselves in a state of disequilibrium, part of a process that generates new knowledge. Encouraging students to go beyond their comfort zone is also a challenge for educators: at what stage does the task become too difficult and totally overwhelming for the student. Establishing effective support structures through informal mentoring is one such vehicle to achieve both the challenge and the support required by university students when learning is demanding. Informal mentoring is a lifeline to enable students to move from a state of disequilibrium to a more comfortable state. This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a study which investigates the enabling informal mentor environment which supported students when they were out of their comfort zone. This study involved a cohort of first year pre-service Bachelor of Education students enrolled in a core Educational Psy...
International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2009
A lament of some academics wanting to use online learning is their inability to promote dynamic i... more A lament of some academics wanting to use online learning is their inability to promote dynamic interactions. The basic practice of "read and discuss" does not get to the heart of active and engaged learning. Existing approaches recognize participation for successful online conversation, but do not make transparent the role of the academic instructor as mediator. This paper draws on the theory of mediated learning experience (MLE) to introduce humanness in the motivation to engage in tasks, and ultimately promote student empowerment. Guidelines to move discussion beyond "read and discuss" through meaningful, caring, rich, and challenging dialogue are provided. A design-based instructional methodology directed the study.
International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence, 2011
For a number of years, there has been a concerted effort by the United Arab Emirates to take a pr... more For a number of years, there has been a concerted effort by the United Arab Emirates to take a prominent role in introducing e-business initiatives throughout the Gulf region, and this effort has translated into widespread access of internet technology for its own citizens. The country, in setting out to become a hub for foreign and domestic companies, realized that to achieve these goals it must provide appropriate e-business frameworks and infrastructures, which it has successfully done. Although, while not the only means of acquiring digital literacy, regular exposure to the internet does contribute to gaining these necessary 21 st century skills. It might be expected that with such widespread access to the internet the population would contribute to becoming digitally competent. Using an ethnographic case study methodology, this paper investigates issues contributing to what might be a new form of digital divide; cultural issues which limit the acquisition of such digital skills. our interpersonal relationships. The strategic potential of the medium was recognized well over a decade ago by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) who stated:
... Tony Jewels School of Information Systems Queensland University of Technology Rozz Albon Depa... more ... Tony Jewels School of Information Systems Queensland University of Technology Rozz Albon Department of Education Curtin University of Technology ... The reliability of information technology (IT) project delivery is one of the four levels at which Thorp & DMR's Center for ...
This paper describes an alternative approach to teaching and learning in the Faculty of Education... more This paper describes an alternative approach to teaching and learning in the Faculty of Education, Curtin University of Technology. Universities are currently grappling with a shift in paradigms, from a traditional approach which considers learning and proof of learning residing with a single person, to, as yet, an undefined model which embraces the continuing interaction of minds from within a wide social fabric i.e., learning communities. Through a three year project the authors were able to reconceptualise and operationalise teaching and learning through two key components, one being technology which has been the force behind the building of the learning community and the other being assessment which is learner-focused. The authors have developed a Learner Mediated Approach (LMA) based on the nature of learning communities in which multiple approaches to learning reflect the learning process. This approach encapsulates a learning community in which the technology drives the model, and the assessment drives the learning.
International Journal of Information Technology Project Management, 2013
This research sets out to identify cultural factors that may need to be addressed in order to inc... more This research sets out to identify cultural factors that may need to be addressed in order to increase the chances of international IT project success. The management of projects across national boundaries and cultures is becoming an increasingly important topic as organizations throughout the world expand their globalization efforts. Using a case study example of a failed IT project conducted in Taiwan by an Australian project team, the issue of how national cultural differences contributed to this failure is used as the foundation for identifying how cultural differences might affect other international IT projects. Feedback from local students in a United Arab Emirates national university MIS project management course is analyzed and interpreted in an attempt to identify what cultural differences are likely to affect the management of projects in the Middle East region in particular and across national boundaries generally.
The literature confirms that learning occurs through discussions. However, the question of ‘how ’... more The literature confirms that learning occurs through discussions. However, the question of ‘how ’ discussions are conducted in an online environment continues to challenge educators. Technology has recapitulated a discussion approach to aid learning by building tools to enable discussions between multiple users. There appears to be a short supply of research which considers whether these current technologies used in the common Learning Management Systems (LMS) and computer conferencing (CC) enhance or limit learning. The cognitive processing required of learners when they engage in the common threaded messages on many of the LMS platforms, is laboured and cognitively demanding. The structure and content appears to be driven by the need for e-management and eadministration, relegating learning to a secondary position. This paper discusses the psychological reading process and how, if used to drive the technology, the reading and processing of content within discussions may be accesse...
The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching st... more The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching staff the concept of a digital or electronic teaching portfolio is very new a perspective that cannot be ignored. Academic developers have a role to play in their institutions in making the concept of a digital portfolio understood by staff, and making transparent the many and varied options available to them to develop their own electronic portfolio. At one Australian university the elaboration and application of a teaching portfolio as a capstone assessment task has been embedded in a stand-alone Foundations of University Learning and Teaching subject as a way of documenting staff learning about their teaching as they progress through the semesterlong subject. This paper focuses on the processes and application of guiding staff to make the
Preparing university graduates for the world of work must address teamness, a quality essential t... more Preparing university graduates for the world of work must address teamness, a quality essential to working in complex and dynamic organizations. Mutual performance monitoring (MPM) highlighted as a fundamental component in the authors’ initial team learning theory is examined. It was thought that first year university students may not have the skills of MPM to affect high quality team outputs, and our results suggest this is true. It is proposed that students are supported with strategies which legitimize monitoring the work of their team members and that the ideas of collusion, spying and cheating are replaced with teamness. Further, it appears that many academics are unprepared or ill-equipped to prepare students for a world of work in teams. Exposing the naivety of students, presenting perceived and positive changes in team skills and suggesting strategies may provide some pedagogical guidance for academic educators to better implement team learning. This paper explores MPM as a building block in a more comprehensive theory of team learning.
The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching st... more The concept of a teaching portfolio in higher education is not new. However, for many teaching staff the concept of a digital or electronic teaching portfolio is very new-a perspective that cannot be ignored. Academic developers have a role to play in their institutions in making the concept of a digital portfolio understood by staff, and making transparent the many and varied options available to them to develop their own electronic portfolio. At one Australian university the elaboration and application of a teaching portfolio as a capstone assessment task has been embedded in a stand-alone Foundations of University Learning and Teaching subject as a way of documenting staff learning about their teaching as they progress through the semesterlong subject. This paper focuses on the processes and application of guiding staff to make the 56 transition from a print-based to a digital teaching portfolio, and makes recommendations for introducing a digital teaching portfolio into a Foundations subject for academic staff new to teaching and learning in higher education.
When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team memb... more When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team members will contribute much to their immediate levels of productivity. Various types of group work are already being incorporated into higher education pedagogies with the stated intention of preparing students for modern workplace environments. Yet preparing for such an important vocational skill is not always so enthusiastically embraced by students. Many students openly state that they do not like working in groups because they believe that they can achieve better outcomes on their own. We investigate in this paper the metacognitive processes that students might engage in to help explain why group activities in an academic environment may be so unpopular.
When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team memb... more When graduates now enter the professional workplace, their ability to work as effective team members will contribute much to their immediate levels of productivity. Various types of group work are already being incorporated into higher education pedagogies with the stated intention of preparing students for modern workplace environments. Yet preparing for such an important vocational skill is not always so enthusiastically embraced by students. Many students openly state that they do not like working in groups because they believe that they can achieve better outcomes on their own. We investigate in this paper the metacognitive processes that students might engage in to help explain why group activities in an academic environment may be so unpopular.
When university students are exposed to new learning environments and complex challenging concept... more When university students are exposed to new learning environments and complex challenging concepts they find themselves in a state of disequilibrium, part of a process that generates new knowledge. Encouraging students to go beyond their comfort zone is also a challenge for educators: at what stage does the task become too difficult and totally overwhelming for the student. Establishing effective support structures through informal mentoring is one such vehicle to achieve both the challenge and the support required by university students when learning is demanding. Informal mentoring is a lifeline to enable students to move from a state of disequilibrium to a more comfortable state. This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a study which investigates the enabling informal mentor environment which supported students when they were out of their comfort zone. This study involved a cohort of first year pre-service Bachelor of Education students enrolled in a core Educational Psy...
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