What’s new in online learning

study group Reading Time: 3 minutes

It’s that time of year again, but when you can take a breath from marking, don’t forget to come back and take a look around. If you have something great to share, the ASCILITE 2018 call for participation is now open (submissions close July 13).

Ramp up your digital skills

These tech tips come with a lot of kudos to Judy O’Connell, a colleague in FoAE. If you haven’t already seen it, the 23 things for digital knowledge could keep you very busy for a very long time in ramping up your digital skills. Or, you could just use it in the way it’s intended – dip in, find something you want to learn more about, use the tips and links and go and have a play.

  • Social media for researchers “Engagement with the wider community and the removal of institutional barriers are the key features of social media for researchers. Its conversational style encourages more open, proactive interaction and it also allows for informal professional engagement with colleagues across different disciplines.”
  • Infographics and data visualisations “Pictures really can be worth a thousand words. Images grab our attention, and carefully created representations of data and other information can help us quickly grasp what is being presented and communicate a message more effectively.”
  • Altmetrics “Short for alternative metrics, altmetrics are a measure of web-based scholarly interaction. They aim to measure such things as how often research is tweeted, blogged, downloaded or bookmarked. Altmetrics are a recent addition towards attempts to measure the impact of scholarly and scientific published papers.”

The benefits of study groups

study groupThis article presents interesting research on study groups – a strategy highlighted in the Learning Experience Framework (TOL). It found that the ” the top three study strategies students reported using in these groups were asking each other questions, discussing course materials, and quizzing each other”. And of course, these are all well-known evidence-based strategies.So many of our students create their own Facebook groups – but do we do enough to support? The article has some suggestions.

What’s winning awards in eAssessment?

Do moreSelected winners of the UK eAssessment Awards (eAA) will strut their stuff in a Transforming Assessment webinar on June 6, 2018. Presentations include (with shortened title – see the link for details):
* Delivering high stakes e-assessment at scale
* Robust and repeatable e-assessment
* Personalized, interactive e-assessments in numeracy with immediate diagnostic feedbackRegister here: http://ta.vu/6jun2018

What’s going on upstairs?

upstairsUpstairs is a new regional startup hub – the first in NSW Central West – recently launched in Bathurst. It provides 24/7 internet access, workstations, conference spaces, mentors, professional development programs, training and access to new, innovative businesses in the region. And CSU is a founding partner.Read more at CSUNews.