Learning to research in distance mode: Technologies for building higher degree research community online

Higher Degree Researchers (HDRs) in Australia tertiary education programs must achieve mastery of complex skills, theories, and concepts. Non-traditional HDRs, especially those enrolled part time and remotely, face barriers to achieving these outcomes. This concise paper uses the case study of a regional university in Australia to investigate the theoretical underpinnings of technology use to promote HDR communities of learning, especially for part time and remote researchers.

Introduction

This chapter articulates a number of key contributions made by Constant J. Mews to the field of Medieval Studies over the course of his career. In particular, it focuses upon his expertise in Abelard and Heloise, his insights into musicology and musical communities, and his groundbreaking work in the study of women intellectuals in the Middle Ages. All of his scholarly work, the chapter argues, should be understood in the frame of his devotion to the communities of learning, both of the past and in the present.

Kāhui Ako and the collaborative turn in education: Emergent evidence and leadership implications

Internationally, in contexts of escalating globalisation, collaboration has increasingly been taken up as a social policy tool. Education has not been exempt from that uptake. In Aotearoa, this is most clearly evidenced in the implementation of Kāhui Ako | Communities of Learning. In this paper, I detail the ‘why’ of this global shift towards collaborative initiatives, engage with available research as to the limits and possibilities of their successful implementation, and consider the implications of collaboration for leadership. I then draw on theory to advance some practice priorities for realising the potential of such policy initiatives.