Hosted by the University of Canterbury, 2023’s ASCILITE Conference centred around people, partnerships and pedagogy. Held at the Christchurch’s Te Pae Convention Centre and streamed online, the conference provided an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals to hear about happenings in the learning and teaching field, with a focus on technology-enhanced learning and the ‘third space’.
The three-day event was brimming with presentations, pecha kuchas, panels, keynotes, special interest groups and social events. While you can make time to access the full and concise papers or the poster, pecha kucha, workshops and panel session abstracts in full, I’ve included a few highlights from a few UTS friends who attended.
Amanda White saw an opportunity to slow down and consider how we approach GenAI and assessment in a post-pandemic world.
My stand out thought from ASCILITE came from the panel I participated in with Peter Bryant about the knee-jerk snap back to how universities did assessment pre-COVID-19. The thought-provoking piece from TEQSA about generative AI means that now is the time for staff to push universities to really invest in high quality and effective assessment. We have become efficient at assessment as university budgets have become tight, our workloads higher and our research expectations increasing, but is this giving us effective assessment? Can we, hand on heart, be certain every student has passed every single learning objective and met every graduate attribute? We need to think slowly and carefully about how we move forward as a department, a faculty and a university.
Keith Heggart took joy in the in-between spaces and spontaneous connections.
As always, the best parts of the conference were the unplanned networking between colleagues and peers. There were lots of ’sideline’ conversations about a) learning design in higher education, b) the role of artificial intelligence in education in the future (and thankfully, not all of these were solely about assessment) and c) how professional and academic staff can work more closely together to provide a better student experience. I think the biggest provocation came from the first keynote, where we were challenged to think about designing learning for the students in front of us, rather than a mythical ‘perfect undergrad’.
Amelia Di Paolo joined remotely and found a voice for third space professionals.
Reflecting on the 2023 ASCILITE conference, it’s clear that the intersection of technology and education continues to evolve in exciting and innovative ways. From the exploration of Digital Twin technology in higher education to the transformative potential of empathic communication training using virtual patients, the conference underscored the dynamic nature of learning design. In this evolving landscape, third space practitioners have been acknowledged for their essential contributions, working alongside academics and subject matter experts in co-creating an inclusive and technologically-enhanced educational environment. The convergence of technology, co-design and approaches to authentic learning points towards a future where education is more accessible and resonant with the needs of a diverse student body.
Mais Fatayer enjoyed seeing open education resources highlighted across the program.
The ASCILITE community consistently gathers individuals from diverse fields in learning and teaching. While learning design traditionally commands attention, I am pleased to observe open education claiming a spotlight with three dedicated sessions, featuring the sharing of teaching practices (UTS), research studies on inclusive open education (UniSA), and project development for a new open textbook about Australasian case studies in open education (OEP SIG).
Read more on what’s happening in the open education space with Mais’s full report on the OER-themed sessions at ASCILITE.
The mix of perspectives and areas of focus at ASCILITE, as demonstrated by my colleague’s takeaways above, is always something I enjoy. In addition to this, two broader appeals to the audience resonated with me:
- David White’s keynote highlighted the need to balance the intensity of online learning. We have a tendency to over-engineer, and instead need to design subjects with space that allows us to breathe, for reflection.
- While reflecting on a networked program supporting curriculum innovation, Elisa Bone from the University of Melbourne pointed out that it “takes a village to create an impactful learning experience”.
These are two key things I hope to carry with me into 2024: designing in spaces to stop, breathe, reflect and question; and to build communities around our learning and teaching, as part of the village that improves our student experience.
Interested in becoming part of the ASCILITE community? Hear about some of the advantages from UTS members – sign-up is free!