[HERDSA]: The Weekly Email News Wed 1 June 2011 Part 2

Wed Jun 1 12:01:26 EST 2011

Dear List Members

This week we have:

	Transforming Assessment Webinar TODAY

	Educational and leadership Consultants Wanted

	Call for Chapters

	New on line Resource for Research Supervisors

	Forthcoming Conferences/Forums

	Research Data Bases Updated

	News from Higher Education

1) EVENT TODAY

Transforming Assessment Webinar Update 

Next live session:
Wednesday, 1 June 2011 "Remix, Mash-Up, Share: Designing Web 2.0 Assessment Scenarios and Criteria in Games and Interactive Media"

Presenter: Ingrid Richardson (Murdoch University, Australia) Hosted by Professor Geoffrey Crisp, Dean Learning and Teaching, RMIT University.

When:
Wednesday, 1 June 2011 at 17:30 Adelaide, South Australia time (our time zone = GMT +9.30).
See your equivalent local time at:
http://timeanddate.com/s/21ep
A countdown timer is also available at
http://www.transformingassessment.com
A recording of the session will be published after the event.

Where:
Online via your web browser (in your home or office!) using the Wimba virtual classroom.
To join the webinar go to:
http://192.160.71.198/launcher.cgi?room=transformingassessment
(Note: please run the set-up wizard - it is advisable to test prior to the start time - no password is required for audience members).

RSVP:
So that we can gauge expected numbers please RSVP via email to:
'rsvp at transformingassessment.com'
Please use the subject line:
"RSVP webinar 1 june 2011"
(Note: you will receive an automated response containing further information)

Dr Mathew Hillier
Teaching and Educational Development Institute The University of Queensland, Australia, 4072 http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au 
Transforming Assessment: http://transformingassessment.com/

2) Educational and leadership Consultants Wanted

The Australian Institute for Educational Leadership is seeking Educational and Leadership Consultants. If you have what it takes to lead others and feel confident that you'd like to share your professional expertise and knowledge then we are keen to hear from you. Educational and Leadership Consultants are currently sought at a range of levels for state-wide, national and international opportunities in both a short term and longer term roles.

Typical consulting contracts include: conference presentations, school leadership and curriculum review projects, school reviews, University guest lectures, peer mentoring and change management roles. Current and past principals, deputy principals, educational lecturers including University and VET lecturers, education officers, curriculum heads of department and others with a role in educational leadership are encouraged to apply.

Those interested in partnership and collaborative arrangements are also welcome to provide details.

Please apply online by providing your details at:
www.aussieleadership.com
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGN2a3FoVzdUUXdzRlF3N0xOVjR0cnc6MQ

3) Call for Chapters

Chapter proposals are invited for an edited book on Virtual Worlds in Online and Distance Education, to be published by Athabasca University Press as part of Terry Anderson's Issues in Distance Education series. 

The book's scope will encompass the use of virtual worlds for fully online/distance and blended modes of education in post-secondary settings across the globe. There will be two types of chapters, namely chapters addressing specific themes and issues (5,000-8,000 words) and chapters reporting on case studies (2,000-4,000 words).

The Call for Proposals is available online at the following web site:

http://www.virtualclassrooms.info/vwwg/vwwgbook.html

The key dates are as follows:

- July 22, 2011 - one to two-page proposals due
- August 19, 2011 - authors notified as to the status of their proposals
- November 18, 2011 - full chapter manuscripts due
- January 27, 2012 - results of manuscript review process made available to authors
- February 24, 2012 - revised chapter manuscripts due
- late 2012 - publication of book in both print and online (open access) formats

Queries and expressions of interest can be directed to the editors, Sue Gregory, Mark J. W. Lee, Barney Dalgarno and Belinda Tynan at virtualworldsinODE at gmail.com. Please also feel free to share this information with others who you think might be interested.

4) On Line Resource for Research Supervisors

Dear Roger,
I wanted to alert fellow research supervisors to a blog that I have been writing since the beginning of the year. It is called the (research) supervisor’s friend http://supervisorsfriend.wordpress.com/  and it is designed as a way of sharing insights about research supervision that have arisen from my own practice as a research supervisor and my work with other research supervisors at Queensland University of Technology helping them to improve their research supervision.

I am writing it under four strands of thinking about research supervision
	Research supervision as advancing knowledge
	Research supervision as management
	Research supervision as pedagogy
	Research supervision as relationship

..and I try to add a new blog every fortnight.

Some of the topics I have written about include
	How can you tell when there has been a contribution to knowledge (in a doctoral research study)?
	Developing a research project plan
	A pedagogy for group supervision
	Resilience in the face of adversity

Geof Hill
g.hill at qut.edu.au 

5) FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES/FORUMS

5.1 Australian Council on Open, Distance and E Learning (ACODE)
ACODE Learning Technologies Leadership Institute 2011
When: Sunday 21st to Thursday 25th August, 2011
Where: Outrigger, Twin Towns Resort, Coolangatta
The Institute at a glance
• an intensive, four day, live-in, leadership training programme
• to run from Sunday afternoon 21st to noon Thursday 25th August 2011
• located at the Outrigger Twin Towns Resort, Coolangatta
• intended for staff in higher education with responsibilities for managing or supporting the use of learning technologies
• designed to assist participants to exercise leadership in their current and future roles
• a program delivered and supported by a world-class team
• enrolment limited to allow intensive interaction and group work
To Register go to http://hub.acode.edu.au
Early Bird registration closes – 30 June 2011!

Further information from Mrs. Susan Brosnan at brosnan at usq.edu.au

5.2 The 2nd annual National Learning and Teaching Forum
28th – 29th September 2011 * Sydney Harbour Marriott at Circular Quay

The National Learning and Teaching Forum convenes practitioners and academic leaders from across the tertiary sector to discuss the underpinnings of learning and teaching strategies that are innovative, engaging and evidence based. 

This two-day agenda is designed to equip delegates with up-to-date knowledge on new approaches in learning and teaching and to discuss new operatives and current issues on the development and implementation of educational programs.

The program will feature keynote presentations from Universities, VET, as well as business stakeholders and will address the following issues:

Development and implementation of curriculum design 
Learning and teaching academic standards 
Quality assurance and enhancement
Learning and teaching performance indicators
Assessment and grading criteria
The role of creative learning spaces  
Impact of technology on the tertiary learning environment
The focus on graduate attributes
Book early and save $200 off the registration fee. To register go to
https://www.informa.com.au/conferences/education/national-learning-and-teaching-forum/registration-1/early-bird/event_registration

5.3 Inaugural Regional Tertiary Education Conference
2-3 August 2011 Coffs Harbour Education Campus

For details go to www.informa.com.au/regionaltertiaryed

6) Research Data Bases Updated

The IDP Database of Research on International Education has been updated with 88 new records for May. The latest entries can be browsed from the New Additions page at:

http://www.idp.com/idp-today/research-database/new-additions.aspx

New publications are also listed at http://twitter.com/idpdrie as noted.

The DE Hub Database of Research on Distance Education has been updated with 89 new records for May. The latest entries can be browsed from the New Additions page at:

http://cunningham.acer.edu.au/dbtw-wpd/textbase/drde/drde_new.html

New publications are also listed at http://twitter.com/distedres as noted.

7) News from Higher Education.

Are Australian Universities `seldom excellent’? The Experts respond.
By Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation.
“Australia’s universities, like its wine, are decent and dependable, but seldom excellent.”
So said The Economist magazine, in a piece published online.
We asked Australian tertiary education experts to respond:
http://theconversation.edu.au/are-australian-universities-seldom-excellent-the-experts-respond-1535

AUSTRALIA: Aptitude tests may better reflect ability
The Australian Council for Educational Research has issued a report suggesting that an emphasis on tertiary admissions scores is stopping hundreds of capable students from accessing university, writes Breanna Tucker for the Canberra Times.
More on the University World News site 
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/aptitude-tests-and-school-scores-key-to-uni-admissions-report/2171140.aspx

GLOBAL: Offshore staffing – The issues
Getting staff of the right calibre for offshore operations is a key element in protecting a university’s reputation for quality in the country concerned, writes JOHN FIELDEN. The issue is no longer one of exporting staff from the home country, but of tapping global networks and markets for the best people. University managers and human resource spec ialists need to acquire the recruitment skills of multinationals.
Full report on the University World News site
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011052720573157

GLOBAL: Academic bloggers everywhere
Tens of thousands of opinionated academics around the world have become internet bloggers while universities are increasingly establishing blogging sites on their web pages. Blogging has moved from being a nerdish undergraduate pastime to an accepted communication medium within the academic community. 
Full report on the University World News site
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20110527205853451

Roger Landbeck
List Moderator