ATN EdTech 2020 Plenary Session Online
The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) brings together four of the most innovative and enterprising universities in Australia: University of Technology Sydney, RMIT University, University of South Australia and Curtin University. The ATN is recognised as a global leader of a new generation of universities focused on industry collaboration, real-world research with real-world impact and produce work-ready graduates to become global thinkers in business and the community.
The Presenters:
Professor Shane Dawson
Executive Dean, UniSA Education Futures
University of South Australia (UniSA), Adelaide
Download Professor Shane’s Presentation Here
Professor Lori Lockyer
Dean, Graduate Research School & Core Member, STEM Education Futures
University Technology Sydney (UTS)
Download Professor Lori’s Presentation Here
Professor Shona Leitch
ADVC, Quality and Enhancement
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne
Download Professor Shona’s Presentation Here
Brad Birt
Director, Learning Partnerships in the Office of the DVC Academic
Curtin University, Perth
Dedy Permadi, PhD
Special Advisor to the Minister for Digital Policy and Human Resource Development, Spokesman
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Indonesia
Tantia Dian Permata Indah
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Zenius
Download Tantia’s Presentation Here
Nigel Hembrow
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Astronaut
Download Nigel’s Presentation Here
Overview
Firstly, let me thank everyone who participated in the ATN EdTech 2020 symposium last week. We were all privileged to hear from some of the world’s leading voices in online learning, and equally fortunate to hear from industry, government, and the many educators and technologists who participated with questions. We would like to keep the discussion active, so feel free to continue to ask questions and comment below and we will endeavour to keep the dialogue going for as long as everyone is interested.
For those of you who were unable to attend the event live, you can watch the recorded event by following this link: ATN EdTech 2020 - Opportunities, Issues, and Challenges [online].
It was reassuring to see some common themes emerge throughout the presentations, and I will try to summarise these again for everyone:
Data Analytics: It was clear that data that is inherent in online learning presents real opportunities to guide and inform professional teaching practice, and to better understand the behaviour of learners. We heard Prof Shane Dawson from UniSA present examples of the eliciting, organisation and applications of this data in ways that can improve retentions and teaching practice. These ideas were echoed by both Prof Lori Lockyer from UTS and Prof Shona Leitch from RMIT. We believe that these investigations by ATN researchers presents some important insights for the EdTEch industry in Indonesia, particularly based on the audience feedback that suggested their current teaching practice is hampered by not fully understanding the nature off their learners online.
Teachers as Designers: Another common theme of the symposium was the role that teachers play in designing online learning experiences. They undertake, even unwittingly, as process of design that has them analysing the context for design, iteratively conceptualising solutions, selecting appropriate technologies, and evaluating their design based on the teaching and learning outcomes they generate. An in-depth overview of this concept was presented by Prof Lori Lockyer and reinforced in presentations by Prof Shona Leitch and Brad Birt. This raises many questions related to the extent that we adequately prepare teachers for this task, and likewise that adequacy of the technology tools available to teachers to ensure that they have the autonomy to function as great designers of online learning experiences.
Social Integrations: Our audience was particularly interested in the social implications of having shifted rapidly to online learning in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. All of our presenters touched on this issue. There appears a genuine concern for how we can ensure recognition of the important role that social experiences play in the development of learning outcomes, and how to translate these appropriately into online learning. As professional educators we recognise the critical role that social interaction plays in cognitive development, and how the nature of these interactions need to be adapted to stages of learners. The question is the extent to which online learning is capable of this flexibility. The way in which a university student can engage online in such a way that the process of that engagement can help them better understand abstract problems, is vastly different to how a younger learner will develop language skills, creativity, empathy and communication skills from social interactions. The challenge appears how can educators design social interactions online that facilitate this breadth of development and learning.
Importance of Pedagogy: At the beginning of the technology boom, we saw a disproportional emphasis on investments in technology and less than adequate investments in teacher training and development, and into better understanding exactly how these technologies will contribute to better and more efficient learning outcomes. We saw this point emphasised by most presenters and the importance of not losing sight of good pedagogy was a common theme. Within this theme were issues of assessment, and particularly the response of RMIT to cease most examinations this year. Brad Birt also discussed the ways in which we need to rethink assessment in an age of online teaching and learning. This theme was in many respects an overarching idea in which assessment, design, social interactions online, and evaluation of learning with data fits.
The Context of Indonesia: Our presenters from Indonesia did an excellent job at helping us to understand the teaching and learning landscape of Indonesia, and how much this actually varies from Australia. We heard from Zenius COO Tantia, about the almost one million senior high school students who are preparing for the National University Entrance Exam, compared with roughly 180,000 in Australia, and the staggering 40 million school aged learners throughout Indonesia. We heard from Nigel Hembrow from Astronaut about the breadth of collaboration that private tech companies are undertaking with the education sector, and the value technology they have to offer. And finally we heard from Dr Dedy Permadi from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology about the scale of investments in infrastructure across the archipelago and the need for online learning solutions to meet the current and future demands of Indonesia. He also stressed his openness to Australia participating in the challenge to help prepare Indonesia’s current and future workforce with technology skills. It was a generous invitation that was in-keeping with the collaborative spirit of this symposium.
Finally, our thanks to the Australian Embassy Jakarta for their continued support, to the many people involved from Curtin University, RMIT, UTS, and UniSA, to our industry partners Zenius and Astronaut, and finally the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (KOMINFO).
So now let me invite anyone with questions or comments about the symposium to contribute below.