Open Universities Australia

Author(s):  
Michael Crock ◽  
Janet Baker ◽  
Skye Turner-Walker

This chapter analyses the history of, and future directions for, higher education studies undertaken through Open Universities Australia (OUA), Australia’s unique higher education conduit. Founded to provide open access to units that allow individuals to undertake individual units or achieve qualifications from leading Australian universities, and supported by a federal government student loans scheme, OUA’s experience and future plans provide significant insight into the potential and pitfalls of the technological innovation in both higher education distance, and increasingly, on-campus, teaching and learning. The need for an ongoing emphasis on innovation, adaptability, and cooperation in an extraordinarily rapidly changing environment is highlighted.

2015 ◽  
pp. 320-335
Author(s):  
Michael Crock ◽  
Janet Baker ◽  
Skye Turner-Walker

This chapter analyses the history of, and future directions for, higher education studies undertaken through Open Universities Australia (OUA), Australia's unique higher education conduit. Founded to provide open access to units that allow individuals to undertake individual units or achieve qualifications from leading Australian universities, and supported by a federal government student loans scheme, OUA's experience and future plans provide significant insight into the potential and pitfalls of the technological innovation in both higher education distance, and increasingly, on-campus, teaching and learning. The need for an ongoing emphasis on innovation, adaptability, and cooperation in an extraordinarily rapidly changing environment is highlighted.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Geraldine E. Lefoe ◽  

Welcome to the first issue of Volume 10 of Journal of University Teaching and Learning (JUTLP) in 2013. This year also marks the tenth year of the journal and we have seen it grow incredibly in that time. As an open access journal we struggled initially for acceptance. However last year there were 32000 downloads from the site, an indication of improved access as well as more interest in improving teaching practice. This increased recognition for research related to higher education teaching practice is also reflected in opportunities for grants. In Australia this year the federal government has recently announced that Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) grants and fellowships are included in the Competitive Grants Register for the first time providing further avenues for our scholars to support their research.


2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Glen Postle ◽  
Andrew Sturman

In this paper the authors trace the development of equity within the Australian higher education context over the latter part of the last century. In particular they focus on the ways different perspectives (liberalist-individualist and social democratic) have shaped what has been a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of students accessing higher education in Australia. The adoption of a specific perspective has influenced the formation of policies concerning equity and consequently the way universities have responded to the pressures to accept more and different students. These responses are captured under two main headings – ‘restructuring the entry into higher education’ and ‘changing the curriculum within higher education’. Several examples of current programs and procedures based upon these are explained. The paper concludes with the identification of three ‘dilemmas' which have emerged as a result of the development and implementation of equity processes and procedures in higher education in Australia. These are: (a) While there has been an increase in the number and range of students accessing higher education, this has been accompanied by a financial cost to the more disadvantaged students, a cost which has the potential to exacerbate equity principles. (b) For one of the first times in the history of higher education, a focus is being placed on its teaching and learning functions, as opposed to its research functions. The problem is that those universities that have been obliged to broaden their base radically have also been obliged to review their teaching and learning practices without any budgetary compensation. (c) A third consequence of these changes relates to the life of a traditional academic. Universities that have been at the forefront of ‘changing their curriculum’ to cope with more diverse student groups (open and distance learning) have seen the loss of ‘lecturer autonomy’ as they work more as members of teams and less as individuals.


Author(s):  
David Mills

Course management systems will unquestionably become one of the most critical enterprise systems in higher education. This is because these systems are more closely aligned with the core mission of teaching and learning than any others. Although these systems have already undergone extraordinary transformation in just a few short years, we are at only the very beginning of the evolutionary process. It is critical that CMS vendors look to the students, educators, and administrators that interact with these systems to identify what new tools and features they need. Consequently, the next stage of innovation in course management systems should therefore focus more on features specifically related to promoting better and more efficient processes for teaching and learning online. More flexible administration options should make these systems easier to maintain. Emerging standards will continue to simplify communications and data exchange with other systems. Finally, the infusion of sound principles of instructional design and learning theory into the tools themselves promises to transform today’s course management systems into tomorrow’s expert systems for teaching and learning.


Author(s):  
David Starr-Glass

Following a critical appraisal of research and teaching in U.S. higher education, Ernest Boyer advocated that teaching should be recognized and rewarded as an activity that was at least as important as traditional disciplinary scholarship. He insisted that teaching had its own scholarly component which deserved fuller recognition, appreciation, and dissemination. This chapter explores Boyer's reconsideration of the activities and priorities of higher education and the emerging history of what would become known as the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). From an early stage in its historical trajectory, SoTL explorations were linked to a publication imperative. Publication was seen as essential for consolidating the discipline's status and for improving the efficacy of teaching. The chapter reconsiders the publication requirement, its impact on the vision and mission of SoTL, and the degree to which it has repositioned and reprioritized teaching in the academy. It also provides suggestions for furthering SoTL's impact and for new directions for research, practice, and publication.


Author(s):  
Catherine F. Flynn

Higher education has a long history of incivility, and the advent of distance learning has further exacerbated the issues. Increasing incivility in our society adds another challenging dimension to combating incivility and maintaining a supportive, educational environment. This chapter addresses the challenges of maintaining civility in the online teaching and learning environment that facilitates access 24/7. Specific issues relevant to disruptive actions in distance learning are covered, as well as strategies for preventing and reducing online incivility. Promoting a sense of connectiveness and social interaction is recommended, while also maintaining a professional relationship. Online culture is discussed as a key element in establishing an effective online environment.


2007 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Simpson

Because Mormons could never fully realize their separatist dreams of a visible Zion in North America, the history of Mormonism has involved highly complex contacts and negotiations with non-Mormons. In their attempts to convert, resist, or appease outsiders, Mormons have engaged in a distinctive dialectic of secrecy and self-disclosure, of esoteric rites and public relations. The result has been an extended process of controlled modernization.Narratives of this process have focused on the 1890 “Manifesto” of LDS President and Prophet Wilford Woodruff, the momentous declaration that Latter-day Saints must cease to contract plural marriages. The Manifesto put an end to the intense federal persecution of the 1880s, when government agents imprisoned or exiled husbands of plural wives, confiscated Mormon assets, abolished Utah women's right to vote, and secularized Mormon schools. President Woodruff's truce with the federal government brought Mormons a relative peace and an important sign of acceptance: the granting of statehood to Utah in 1896.


Societies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Yousef Mubrik N. Almutairi

This qualitative study addresses international students’ experiences at a Saudi university to gain insight into the challenges these students encounter during their studies. The study also explores academic leaders’ perceptions in supporting international students. The guiding theories behind this study include culture shock and socialization. I conducted interviews with 16 international students and 10 academic leaders at a university in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to gain an understanding of their perspectives. The findings were then analyzed for common trends. The interviews showed that some students experienced greater culture shock than others, including language barriers, when coming from non-Arab countries, and women faced more challenges than men. Meanwhile, the academic leaders and faculty in this study appeared to understand international students’ experiences. Despite the rise in international students attending Saudi universities on full scholarships, limited research has considered this unique student population. This study addresses this gap and discusses future directions. This paper discusses implications for higher-education personnel and international students. The paper recommends providing sufficient material to allow students to prepare for culture shock before coming to Saudi Arabia and making professors and personnel more available to students for support.


Author(s):  
Jason DeHart

This review of The Phenomenological Heart of Teaching and Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice in Higher Education focuses on the organization, strengths, and weaknesses of a newly-published qualitative research text that also serves as a guide for teachers who wish to improve their practice. The case study nature of the text is explored, as well as the contributions of the text’s authors. The book is most notable as a text that draws on the rich history of Merleau-Ponty and seeks to consider classroom instruction in higher education in light of phenomenological tenets.


Author(s):  
Marshall G. Jones ◽  
Stephen W. Harmon

This chapter addresses the future of online learning and online learning technologies in higher education. Our understanding of the use of future technologies can be aided by a better understanding of how we have addressed the use of technologies in our past and in our present. A brief history of the use of technology in teaching and learning serves as a catalyst for a discussion of the near term, mid-range and far term technologies and possible issues associated with them. The authors propose that keeping the focus on human learning instead of specific tools will help higher education take full advantage of online learning in the near and far term future.


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