Is it the end of the year yet? By the time we get to September it starts to feel like we should be winding up and closing down....but no! There is still so much to do.

As a CoP TechDems is embracing the following activities:

• Evaluating and reporting on current digital initiatives and pilots
• Running SIG and other sessions to support best practice L&T goals
• Planning for our final 2022 CoP session in November
• Fostering conversations and plans around innovation and edtech use in 2023

Are you joining in?

Don't work in isolation - reach out to the TechDem community and enlist the support of TD Learning and Teaching Quality Partners for your courses and programs.

If you missed the recent TechDem CoP here are pertinent resources to catch up with our conversations:

• Recording (13 min only - after that we did collaborative tables)
• Slides (with hyperlinks)
• Collaborative Google doc - Tools and Pedagogy - you are invited to contribute ideas and needs

Our final TechDem CoP for 2022 will be on Tuesday November 22 - the grand finale for the year!

Good news! The Engageli online learning environment Pilot (a UniSQ digital initiative) is ongoing in Semester 3 and into 2023.

We want YOU to participate!

To build understanding, skills and pedagogical capability with this tool TechDems is offering a series of EIGHT 'Engageli Awareness' sessions starting with an introduction session on Thursday 13th October.

We know how hard it is to learn a new tool for teaching - therefore these sessions will:

• Provide consistent and regular immersion into the Engageli platform
• Focus initially on building basic familiarisation leading to more advanced features
  
• Provide technical AND pedagogical support for your course requirements
• Bring together like-minded colleagues who know how important it is to innovate using online and digital technologies
• Encourage you to design a bespoke approach to L&T using Engageli

Interested? Complete this online form Engageli Awareness Sessions EOI

Are you a Padlet user? Make sure you:

• Use the UniSQ account (and not a personal account) for full access to this collaborative tool for learning and teaching. Logit online link (for requesting a UniSQ Padlet account)
• Explore TechDem Padlet resources
• Join the Padlet Workshop coming up - details below

Technology Demonstrators currently has FOUR SIG's that meet regularly. Plan to join one or more before the end of 2022 as part of your planning for 2023!

There are TWO opportunities to meet with like-minded MS enthusiasts left in 2022:

Mon 10th October 11 am on Teams Meeting Link

• Learning from the Microsoft Educator Center
• Discussion - Microsoft's 2021-2022 Multimodal Learning Framework

• Looking for volunteers to share the use of Microsoft tools for learning in courses

Join the SIG here

The next Student Engagement SIG meeting will focus on recent research related to student engagement - a request from several SIG members.

There are three articles that we will be focussing on.

• Florence Martin and Jered Borup: Online Learner Engagement: Conceptual Definitions, Research Themes, and Supportive Practices
• Rachel A. Smith, Vincent Tinto: Unravelling Student Engagement: Exploring its Relational and Longitudinal Character
• Steven Greenland, Catherine DT Moore, Ninh Nguyen, and Roopali Misra: How Unis can save Millions by Tackling the Biggest Causes of Online Students' High Dropout Rates

Thursday 13th October at 3pm, Zoom Link

Join the SIG here

The Student Portfolio SIG is an opportunity to discuss the technical and pedagogical approaches to implementing online portfolios for student learning. At this SIG meeting let's consider the following:

• Portfolios in 2022 - what worked? what didn't work?
• Assessment and portfolios - what are you doing? changing for next year?
  
• Planning for 2023 - what do you need? what do your students need?

Interesting reading:

• Marinho, P., Fernandes, P., & Pimentel, F. (2021). The digital portfolio as an assessment strategy for learning in higher education. Distance Education, 42(2), 253-267.
• Walland, E., & Shaw, S. (2022). E-portfolios in teaching, learning and assessment: tensions in theory and praxis. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 1-17

Tuesday 25th October at 1pm, Zoom Link

Join the SIG here

In August we explored Pedagogical design for online collaborative learning. In this next session we should continue to build understanding and plan for 2023 - what do you need?

• Assessment ideas?
• Digital tools?

Tuesday 8th November at 10am, ENGAGELI Link (Use Chrome browser)

Join the SIG here

The Microcredential Unit at UniSQ, under the leadership of Dr Renee Desmarchelier, is excited to announce a new course launched on the FutureLearn platform: Introduction to HyFlex Learning and Teaching.

Co-created by Dr Julie Lindsay (ATP) and Dr Lisa Jacka (SoEd) this course includes:

• Attributes of HyFlex L&T
• Designing and planning for HyFlex

Jump on in! The course is designed to be completed in 4 weeks and is free for a few additional weeks once you are registered.

More about HyFlex coming soon....including a ThinkPiece to start conversations.

Our ThinkPiece Conversations initiative is going strong. Make sure you visit this Smore or go to the website each week to see the latest and greatest ThinkPieces.

We need more ThinkPieces!

• Don't wait any longer - Read more and SIGN UP to share a ThinkPiece now!

Cally Jetta, Lecturer (First Nations Studies), College for First Nations, UniSQ, has worked hard this year to embed digital technologies into indigenous pedagogy. This week she presented at the Regional University Network (RUN) Learning and Teaching Showcase on 'Ancient meets modern: Indigenous knowledge teaching through interactive pedagogical technologies'....and was voted best speaker of the day!

Cally has also created a ThinkPiece!

VIDEO (see below)

CONVERSATION

Cally, TechDems thinks you are truly deadly! Congratulations!

Explore the UK’s JISC digital experience insights survey of higher ed students with sample size 33,726 respondents.

SUMMARY

FINDINGS REPORT

Some takeaways of note, nearly three quarters of students rated the quality of their on-line learning environment as above average and 45 per cent of students want a mix of on-site and online learning.

In terms of what students didn't like.....

• A lack of meaningful interaction with peers and teachers - negative impact on their ability to learn from others e.g. unproductive and stilted discussions leading to an inability to build trusted relationships for group learning
• Overwhelmed by volume of content, recorded lectures and videos (excessive screentime issues)
• Quality of artefacts varied, and accessibility was often an issue
• Lack of support such as 'how to' for use of new technologies and reliable communication with teachers.

Interesting blog post (and podcast) from EdTech (HE Focus) - The future of AI tutors in higher education that states 'Researchers hope continued advancements and investments will allow artificial intelligence-powered tutors to become more versatile and accessible'

What do you think?

This MultiModal Learning Framework (MML) Economist Impact report is sponsored by Microsoft. We believe the research is solid and valid for sharing with the TechDem community.

MML is defined as teaching that includes four different “modes”: visual, auditory, reading/ writing and kinaesthetic. This report aligns with academic consensus debunking the theory and the notion that student preferences (visual or auditory) dictate modes of learning.

Peer-reviewed literature offers many examples of effective MML technologies that benefit the higher education classroom. These include affordable, commonplace MML technologies such as shared surfaces for the projection of digital artefacts that students interact with together; portable devices such as tablets used for playing and manipulating audio and video; and online social groups to share information collaboratively

August 2022 - Best conversations, Benefits of video-based learning

July 2022 - Engageli, SIG News, Creating a virtual campus

June 2022 - Learning and Teaching Initiatives Sem 2

May 2022 - Engage with Engageli - Meet the Champions

April 2022 - Connectivism and TechDem Champions

March 2022 - Creating a HyFlex classroom

February 2022 - Updates and resources

Senior Education Technology Advisor

Email: julie.lindsay@usq.edu.au
Phone: +61 7 46312890