Mark Nichols
eLearning Specialist, Bible College of New Zealand

Mark Nichols is an eLearning Specialist with the Bible College of New Zealand This is a broad role that includes everything from LMS administration, tutor training, course design, change management strategy through to research. He is chair of the Mahara project (a TEC funded development for an open source ePortfolio platform), and a member of the DEANZ executive. Mark was recognised as a Flexible Learning Leader in New Zealand (2005-2006) and is also involved in the next stages of that initiative. Mark convened the ITPNZ (polytechnic sector) eLearning forum while working in that sector.

eFest presentation - Institutional change for eLearning

There has been significant recent interest in the dynamics of institutional change as they relate to e-learning. It is clear that in some institutions e-learning is an accepted and established part of everyday activity, while in others it struggles to gain traction. This address will examine the organisational differences between the two and will extract real lessons for institutions seeking to embed e-learning, drawing from a series of discussions about e-learning diffusion held with institutional e-learning representatives from across the globe. A useful major change model will also be described.

Presentation slides (950KB PPT)
Presentation slides (730KB PDF)

Audio recording (65 minutes, 60MB MP3)

Session available for video download and streaming

Dr Stanley Frielick
Associate Dean (Undergraduate) in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, AUT, Auckland

Dr Stanley Frielick was recently appointed to AUT University as Associate Dean (Undergraduate) in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences.  He previously worked at NorthTec as Director of Flexible Learning and as a lecturer at the University of Auckland.  He has a long involvement with eLearning in NZ and contributed to several eCDF projects, including CeLDD, FLLinNZ, SPEEKS, OSCINZ/OSLOR and the ITPNZ e-Capability project.

eFest presentation - Real change: Institutional challenges and opportunities

Millions of dollars have been spent on the technological aspects of eLearning.  Systems, software and the development of a wide variety of digital resources have consumed thousands of hours of time.  Policies, prescriptions, standards and guidelines for implementation of eLearning exist in abundance.  Yet traditional approaches to teaching and learning seem to be remarkably resilient and still tend to dominate institutional thinking.  Largely, this is due to deeply embedded processes in the systems that surround the award of qualifications, the disciplinary canons, the evaluation of quality, and the accreditation of institutions. This presentation examines the core systems that shape learning and teaching and explores some of the challenges and opportunities for real changes in practice.

Presentation slides (19MB PDF)

Audio recording (65 minutes, 60MB MP3)

Session available for video download and streaming

Murray Brown
Manager e-Learning Unit, Ministry of Education, Wellington

Murray is responsible for managing the range of projects associated with the eLearning action plan for schools and tertiary eLearning policy.  He has been working in the ministry for 9 years primarily on the ICT strategies for schools.  Prior to that he was an advisor in educational computing at Massey University and a secondary school teacher.

ICT Strategic Framework for Education: Murray's presentation will include an overview of Education Sector ICT, an introduction to the NZ ICT Strategic Framework for Education and the progress on development of shared services to promote interoperability in a Services Oriented Architecture.

Presentation slides (2.3MB PPT)
Presentation slides (1MB PDF)

Audio recording (28 minutes, 26MB MP3)

Barry Ogilvie
Group Manager, TAMU within the Tertiary Education Commission, Wellington

Barry Ogilvie is Group Manager, TAMU within the Tertiary Education Commission.  Whilst the Crown does not have a "normal" ownership interest in the distance and flexible learning (DFL) area per se; Barry has developed an interest and background in DFL models through his recent roles with Wintec and consequently leads the TEC’s involvement in DFL discussions. Barry draws on this practical experience in the collaborative development of distance learning programmes to contribute to the current developments in the ITP sector.

The ITP sector distance and flexible learning project: The 2007 Budget included $21 million of operating funding and $55 million of capital funding over the next two years for four projects related to optimising the network of ITP provision.  One of the projects is considering distance and flexible learning (DFL) opportunities in the ITP sector. This funding enables the TEC and Ministry of Education to work with the ITP sector across a range of initiatives that seek to:

• Develop an understanding of current capabilities within the ITP sub-sector;
• Understand how the ITP sector might lead or engage with the wider  tertiary education system around the issue of DFL
• Develop an investment approach that takes advantage of past investments to align future decisions in the area of DFL with the network of provision;
• Lead to better outcomes for New Zealand's learners, academic professionals, industry and other stakeholders.

This investment approach is the new way of funding tertiary education and training. The partnering relationship with the sector is the model for initiatives of this kind in future.

This presentation will update delegates on the terms of reference that have been developed for the project and provide an insight into the issues that the project leaders are grappling with and some suggested ways forward.

Presentation slides (204KB PPT)
Presentation slides (59KB PDF)

Audio recording (15 minutes. 13.8MB MP3)