Terry Neal, Andrea Barr, John Delany
Blended Solutions (NZ)
Workshop
Sponsored by Ministry of Education

Andrea, John and Terry are working as part of a consortium that includes Maurice Moore and Kate Hunt on the Ministry's knowledge-sharing project 'What the e-learning research tells us'. Within this project, they ran nine focus groups to understand the felt knowledge needs of tertiary educators, as well as focus groups for students and government officials. Previously, Andrea, John and Terry have each managed national e-learning projects. They also have a wide range of experience working with tertiary institutions across New Zealand to build their e-learning capability.

What the e-learning research tells educators.

Over the last few years, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has funded over a dozen research reports to better understand specific issues relevant to e-learning in the New Zealand tertiary sector. Over the same period, the Tertiary Education Commission has funded projects through the e-Learning Collaborative Development Fund, which have produced reports on other relevant issues. While these reports contain much of relevance to the sector (the reports are a response to stakeholder-identified knowledge needs), few people in the sector are accessing or reading, let alone applying, the knowledge in these reports.

To address this, the Ministry commissioned a project to develop ‘user-friendly’, evidence-based information about aspects of e-learning (based on the research reports) to benefit educators, students and government officials. The project has two key phases. One (now completed) was the extraction of key findings from the existing research commissioned by the Ministry and other key agencies and stakeholders. The second phase was to consult with stakeholders so that the findings relevant to them are presented in a useful and accessible way.

As part of the second phase, a small group of e-learning practitioners facilitated focus groups with educators from across the tertiary sector. Feedback from these groups showed that educators want to understand 'How do I design e-learning courses to engage students and motivate them to complete their study?' The Ministry is therefore funding the development of a resource to help educators answer this question. This resource will include evidence from research reports funded by the Ministry.

This workshop will introduce the resource. Participants will work together on activities, using the resource, to help them answer the question 'How do I design e-learning courses to engage students and motivate them to complete their study?' for themselves.

Dr Andrew Higgins
Auckland University of Technology (NZ)
Workshop
Sponsored by Ministry of Education

Dr Andrew Higgins is Director of E Learning at Auckland University of Technology. He has been President of the Distance Education Association of New Zealand (Inc), and of the Australian Rural Education Research Association (Inc).  As a member of the Ministerial E Learning Advisory Group in NZ he worked with the team to generate the "Highways and Pathways" Report and was subsequently a member of the Tertiary E Learning Research Forum.  His research interest is in e learning and distance education.  He has recently given keynote addresses in Oman and in Puerto Rico on quality assurance in distance and e learning. He and Emeritus Professor Tom Prebble have been contracted by the Ministry of Education through Ako Aoteroa to develop a set of resources to assist senior institutional managers make appropriate decisions about e learning.

e-Learning Management Resources

The e-Learning Management Guidelines are are a set of resources and tools that will assist institutional leaders to plan and manage their use of e-learning more strategically. They are commissioned by the Ministry of Education and developed under the aegis of Ako Aotearoa the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.

Much of the published research and analysis of policy and practice in the e-learning field has been authored by and targeted at teachers and IT specialists rather than those responsible for institutional strategy and leadership.  To begin to address this important audience, it is first necessary to identify the issues that they need to understand and to take direct responsibility for.  This resource is an attempt to identify these issues and express them as questions that leaders should be asking of their institutional strategy, policy and practice. Case studies illustrating a number of these strategic options are drawn from across the New Zealand tertiary education sector.

Fa'amalua Tipi with Dr Joce Jesson
University of Auckland (NZ)
Presentation

Fa'amlua Tipi has a degree in B. Phys. Ed and is currently a lecturer in Youth studies, and Education in the School of Critical Studies in Education. His speciality is e- learning processes and foundation learning. His background is in community development and sports coaching.

Dr Joce Jesson is a senior lecturer in the School and is also a member of the Board of Ako Aotearoa the National Centre for Tertiary teaching.

From Digital essays to the formal model, building the capability of digital natives

This session will demonstrate show the process used in a course which used digital processes to enable digital native students to:

• Understand some new theoretical ideas
• Develop these to meet an assessment task set out in an essay form of a version of "the 5 paragraph essay"
• Develop their own skills in library research and production
• Develop or use their own digital skills to produce high quality presentations using ICT
• Export the product onto a CD for assessment.

Tim Durrant - eFest 2008 Silver Sponsor
Renaissance Education Division (NZ)
Workshop

Tim Durrant, Tertiary executive account manager for RED (Renaissance Education Division), has plenty of experience in podcasting. Many of his key clients have used this technology to innovatively deliver content to their students, and even included digital devices as a key teaching medium. He has run podcasting workshops at the previous two eFest conferences, so is well-prepared for all your curly podcasting questions.

How to create a podcast, and why you should!

Podcasting is an increasingly relevant tool in education, as it utilises technology that is already pervasive in your students lives. It's an ideal way to distribute content to distance students, as they can listen to it at a time that suits them and revisit the content as often as they feel necessary. Add to this the continued development of today's digital media devices, and you have an education solution that can really impact your student's learning.

Brenda Frisk
Nextspace (NZ)
Presentation

Brenda is responsible for the business development and education strategies for Nextspace, a 3D visualisation industry catalyst and consultancy. Brenda has extensive experience in both the commercial and education communities. Brenda has worked with digital technology from secondary to tertiary to adult education. She is an educational leader who has presented and facilitated workshops over the years throughout North America, Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Prior to moving to New Zealand from Canada, Brenda owned her own digital design company and developed a successful digital multimedia program for high schools. Brenda holds a master's degree in Communication and Technology, a bachelor's degree in Education and Human Ecology, vocational certification in adult education, and numerous digital media certifications.

Using 3D and Virtual Tools in an Educational Context

Session will cover how easy it is: 1) to access and use state-of-the-art 3D and virtual tools to deliver education and 2) to teach students how to use these tools within their own subject learning across many disciplines from design, through engineering through marketing and training. These are the very same tools and solutions currently used by industry to engage and communicate visually with their suppliers, customers and their own teams. These tools enable collaboration and connection across the globe, giving people separately geographically the opportunity to collabaorate on projects virtually.