05. Conference Proceedings & Working Papers

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Open Access
A Changing Role for Teachers On-Line: A Case Study in Higher Education in Australia
(1999-03) Postle, Glen; Ellerton, Nerida
PCF1 // Over the past two years, the Faculty of Education at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), in conjunction with the University’s Distance Education Centre, has offered a Graduate Certificate in Open and Distance Learning. This course is taught fully via the World Wide Web (WWW), with all content presentation, teacher-learner and learner-learner interactions, assignment submissions and feedback being done on-line and via email. This Graduate Certificate has now been further developed into a Masters Degree program which will be offered solely on-line. // Both programs require of students and staff a different level of interactivity from what has been the pattern in on-campus programs and traditional distance education programs previously delivered via print and other media. // This paper examines the nature of these differences and explores the complexity of the task of teaching on-line. //
Open Access
A Multi-sense Approach to Information Reception and Knowledge Creation in Learning
(2004-07) Nooriafshar, Mehryar
PCF3 // For thousands of years, human beings have acquired and processed information using a number of different senses. Hence, the use of different senses for information collection, analysis and remembering is something, which our brain can relate to very well. // The process of converting the information into knowledge, referencing and utilizing it, is carried out within the personal mind-based multimedia system of the human brain. The human mind can create the most sophisticated animations and multimedia as it can select different types of thought-based “audio” and “visual” effects as well as “actors”. In other words, the human mind has access to an unlimited amount of resources for designing the thought-based multimedia systems. Unfortunately, we are not able to transfer the information and knowledge in our mind directly to other people and sources. This may become possible in the future. // This paper explores the use of innovative and technology aided teaching methods, which utilize different modes and senses for the purpose of learning enhancement. Finally, it compares the learning outcomes and preferences of a sample of internationally selected students using a multimedia system, which attempts to cross the communication barriers in learning.
Open Access
A Multimodal Education Response to the Resilience Challenge in Tonga
(2022-09) Steen, Tangikina Moimoi; Katoanga, Tomote; Tauga, Matelita; Kaitapu, Soana; Ma'u, Taisia; Reid, Ian
PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // Tonga is a small island nation in the Pacific. While it has been COVID free, it is susceptible to many natural disasters, such as the recent Tsunami and earthquake. Resilience is a fundamental requirement of the Tongan education system which has been partially addressed with accelerated use of technology and open, distance, and online learning, broadening access to quality education. // Supported by a grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the Tonga Ministry of Education and Training (MET) partnered with Inclusiv Education, UNICEF, Save the Children Australia, and Kaltura. The MET took an evidence-based approach. Two National school closure days were trialled to evaluate the viability of multimodal teaching approaches during future school closures brought about by Covid-19 or other emergencies. // In this way Tonga has now started to build a resilient education system, addressing issues of learning loss due to school closures and increasing equitable access to technology for teaching and learning. // This paper reports on the National level educational resilience project implemented in 2021, based on the research carried out in 2020, to deliver a comprehensive multimodal and flexible approach to education, encompassing print, radio, television and online delivery. // Key learnings and future plans are also discussed. // Paper ID 8738
Open Access
A Strategy for Reaching Students and Increasing their Motivation
(2004-07) Kovacic, Zlatko J; Green, John Steven
PCF3 // Recently, New Zealand government policy has placed a renewed emphasis on students completing courses, by changing the way tertiary institutions are funded. This has resulted in increased importance being placed on this aspect in the administration and teaching of the courses. According to Seidman’s retention formula for student success, early and regular tutor contact makes a significant difference in keeping students motivated and bringing them to the classroom. Nowadays communication technology by itself is not a guarantee of a successful learning experience. It is the way we use this technology, the timing of interactions and an optimal mixture of online tools that makes an impact on student persistence and retention. In this paper we are addressing these issues and providing data to show how effective our approach was.
Open Access
Access to ICT Infrastructure and Devices in the South Pacific
(2022-09) Naidu, Som; Bhartu, Dhiraj; Mays, Tony
PCF10 Sub-theme: Inspiring Innovations // The South Pacific region spreads over more than 30 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean. The region comprises more than a dozen island nations ranging from small volcanic islands to even smaller coral atolls. Population masses in the island nations vary from around 2,000 in Tokelau to a little more than 800,000 in the Republic of Fiji. Access to information and communications technologies and internet connectivity in the region is varied. This project involves the design and conduct of a desktop study into access to ICT infrastructure, connectivity and devices and their use by students and teachers in the Pacific. Outcomes of this study will enable COL to make informed decisions about what access and delivery technologies to employ in the Partnership for Open Distance and Flexible Learning project in the Pacific. The study will address issues of access to hardware, software, connectivity and skills, as well as examples of ways in which teachers, institutions or Ministries have found ways to address the challenges in low bandwidth/limited access environments, especially in the nine developing countries of the Commonwealth in the region. // Paper ID 3503
Open Access
Accessing Global Information: Locating the Right Information in an Information Abundant Society
(1999-03) Gehling, Joanna; Booker, Di
PCF1 // Working paper presented by Joanna Gehling and Di Booker at the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF1) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. //
Open Access
An Alternative Pathway for Open Learning and Skills Training through Distance Education in Papua New Guinea
(2006-10) Paul, John
PCF4 // National Education Department recognizes that there is a natural consensus to make education a life long need for all citizens, distance education has both opportunities and challenges to cater for traditional learners for education qualifications, professionals to upgrade knowledge and skills to the communities to acquire skills and knowledge and information. // This paper provides a unique platform for sharing and exchanging ideas in perspective of Open and Distance Learning in relation to national development needs, institutional capacities, collaboration and sharing resources, globalization and ICT enabled education and more profoundly to quality of program delivery. // Paper ID 431
Open Access
Application of Adaptivity in Quiz Systems
(2004-07) Kinshuk, Qingmin Cheng
PCF3 // Web-based assessment has been a major research area in recent years, but none of the efforts have yet been directed towards providing adaptive features (either adaptivity or adaptability) for the learner. ʹAdaptivityʹ requires the system to automatically adapt to the learnersʹ current level of domain competence and other similar attributes, whereas ʹadaptabilityʹ requires the system to provide suitable interfaces by which the user can customise the system according to his/her own preferences. This research explores the potential of adaptivity in the Web-based assessment environments and develops a framework that adapts selection of questions within pre-defined contextual boundaries and tolerances and revises granularity in the presentation of questions at varying degree of complexity. // Based on the framework, an adaptive Web-based quiz system is designed and implemented for a first year course at the Massey University. The system is divided into two areas: exercise area and self assessment area. The system uses a student model to monitor and record each student’s exercise and assessment profile. Based on the individual profile, the system presents to the student the suitable exercises at appropriate level of complexity. For example, if the student selects to take an assessment, the system provides the suitable level of questions to the student, based on his or her profile. When the student submits the answers, the system analyses the results according to the marking rules defined by the quiz designer, and gives proper feedback to the student. The feedback includes the correct answers and next recommended step, e.g. system recommends the student to go to the next level if the student gets the satisfying results. Otherwise, the system recommends the user to either try the exercises again or go to revise the relevant learning material. With this system, students are able to take the individualized assessment, and know their own level of competence and the learning progress. Currently, the system is being used by about 150 students. An evaluation is underway to ascertain the effectiveness of the system. Anecdotal comments from the students at this early stage suggest that the students are finding the system as very useful and helpful.
Open Access
Application of Learning Styles Adaptivity in Mobile Learning Environments
(2004-07) Kinshuk, Taiyu Lin
PCF3 // Availability of advanced mobile technologies, such as high bandwidth infrastructure, wireless technologies, and handheld devices, have started to extend e-learning towards mobile learning (m-learning) (Sharples, 2000). This phenomenon fits well with the new paradigm “anytime, anywhere computing” (Lehner and Nösekabel, 2002). However, the development of m-learning is still at rather early stage and many issues have yet to be resolved. One of these issues is the potential of individualization of learning process for the learners. // This paper explores how to improve learning process by adapting course content presentation to student learning styles in multi-platform environments such as PC and PDA. A framework has been developed to comprehensively model student’s learning styles and present the appropriate subject matter, including the content, format, media type, and so on, to suit individual student. The work is based on the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Theory. The framework uses traditional web-based intelligent tutorial architecture, with two additional components: ‘learning style analysis module’ and ‘access device analysis module’. The learning style analysis module takes care of modeling student learning style and communicates with student model, whereas the access device analysis module identifies the access device profile and provides the information to tutorial module. The tutorial module creates the suitable content, based on the student model (including individual learning styles) and access device profile, and presents to the student. // Based on the framework, a prototype for the domain of PHP programming course has been developed. With this system, students are able to learning PHP programming with course content that matches their own learning style and the device used to access the content. A formative evaluation is planned to assess the student satisfaction, learning efficiency, and effectiveness of the system while providing various presentations of the same content to different users on different devices.
Open Access
Assessing Freshman ICT Literacy- A Case Study of UPNG Open College
(2019-09) Erapae, Tuai
Open Access
At-Risk Students: An Early Intervention System
(2022-09) Chand, Rajni; Anzeg, Afshana; Narayan, Sharishna
PCF10 Sub-theme: Inspiring Innovations // During the Covid-19 lockdown, the University of the South Pacific (USP) had to close the Face-to-Face (F2F) delivery of lectures, tutorials and Drop-in support services at all its campuses. This included closing the Drop-in sessions at Student Learning Support (SLS) that provide additional literacy, numeracy and remedial support for students studying at USP. Given that all courses changed to online mode, contact with students was only possible using online virtual sessions such as Big Blue Button (BBB) or Zoom. Such sessions were only possible for students who had facilities and resources and could afford to study online. With Internet cafes and USP's Outreach Hubs, computer labs, and libraries closed, it further limited facilities for studying online for many. Realising major accessibility issues for the majority of its students, particularly those who needed support the most, USP formed a working group of SLS, First-Year Experience (FYEC) Coordinators, Information Technology Services (ITS), and Student Administrative Services (SAS) to design a strategy to identify and support the At-Risk Students (ARS). Moodle, the Learning Management System (LMS) used at USP, which records all students' activities became the central platform for this intervention. With SLS and FYE access to student activity and logs across the different schools at USP, the team worked on the design and implementation of an intervention system to help students isolated due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Intervention systems have been successfully used at many universities (Carroll, 2007; Burmack, 2002; Riddle, 2009; Frey & Fisher, 2008; Trilling & Fadel, 2009; Zhang, Fei, Quddau and Davis, 2014), showing a reduction in dropout and a better pass rate. The approach used at USP involved creating regular contact with the ARS studying in isolation or lockdown, supporting them through internet data plans for studying and virtual academic support sessions. The results showed an increase in these students' Moodle activity and better performance in the courses they were enrolled in. This paper discusses the planning, strategies, and results from a primary survey conducted on these ARS' performances. // Paper ID 1292
Open Access
Balancing the Demands of Knowledge and Technology in an Open Learning Delivery Computer Assisted Learning Course in Australia
(1999-03) Prescott, David Lochmohr; Prescott, Sim
PCF1 // Working paper presented by David Lochmohr Prescott and Sim Prescott at the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF1) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. //
Open Access
Blended Education Framework for All: Bridging Developing and Developed Country Education Ecosystems
(2022-09) Aktaruzzaman, Md; Chowdhury, Anit
PCF10 Sub-theme: Promoting Equity and Inclusion // Blended education theorists and practitioners have argued about the requirement for a framework to be comprehensive in a way that can explicate many of the activities by the various actors of the education ecosystem – learners, teachers, communities, eduverses, institutions, administration – associated with blended education in both developing and developed countries. Currently, Community of Inquiry (CoI), Complex Adaptive Blended Learning System (CABLS), and Khan’s Octagonal eLearning Model are the most prominent frameworks, yet they still do not offer an all-inclusive framework for blended education that can facilitate implementation from theory in different socio-economic echelons and educational strata. This paper provides a review of the existing literature on blended learning and identifies potential gaps in going from theory to implementation. Building on Chowdhury’s (2021) work at the World Economic Forum, a Blended Education Framework for All (BEFA) is proposed as a means to explicate blended education operations and practices at the individual, community, institutional and national levels, leaving no one behind. It also presents evidence of the necessity of a comprehensive framework such as the BEFA from a larger study conducted into the blended education ecosystem of Bangladesh and Australia. // Paper ID 9103
Open Access
Breaking Borders with the VIP Project
(2008-09) Martini, Nataly; Bennett, Rick
PCF5 Sub-theme: Health // The Creative Waves 2007 - Visualising Issues in Pharmacy (VIP) project was the first fully online initiative designed to join pharmacy and graphic design students and teachers from around the world to raise public awareness of critical health issues identified as debilitating in Kenya, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. // Using the Omnium Software online platform, the venture collectively linked together over 300 geographically dispersed students, academics, practitioners and special guests across five continents and 35 countries. The project ran over a 14-week period from March-July 2007 and was divided into two distinct phases, where Phase I (pharmacy phase: week 1-7) and Phase II (graphic design phase: week 7-14) overlapped for a week to encourage crossdisciplinary collaboration between the two educationally diverse groups. // This paper will discuss how through continuous discussions with special guests and mentors around the world, pharmacy participants, in particular, shared materials and resources both individually and collectively to produce indepth written reports for the design phase of the project. The final visual design outcomes from Phase II are currently in production to be implemented, however, the practical stage has been concluded with a high degree of socialisation, cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary interaction and appreciation of others situations. // Judging by participant feedback, the VIP project has signaled that the demand for new visions and approaches to learning and teaching is strong and that the technologies we now live with everyday can enable such interaction. Pharmacy participants specifically indicated the desire for more international online projects so that pharmacy could engage in a more active role locally and internationally in improving public health awareness. // Paper ID 689
Open Access
Building Educational/Academic Resilience through Digital Literacy
(2022-09) Sharma, Bibhya; Reddy, Pritika
PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // The ongoing digitization of the education systems has introduced a new pedagogical approach to teaching and learning – Education 4.0 that aligns the fourth industrial revolution. Education 4.0 has improved the effectiveness and efficiency of learning globally. However, the issues and challenges associated with Education 4.0 or technology –enabled technology teaching and learning emerged when the global education system was mandated to technology-enabled learning during the pandemic. Both the educators and the learners were found to lack relevant digital skills to successfully facilitate the learning process. This study introduces the concept of digital literacy, a digital literacy framework and a digital literacy tool that can be used to effectively champion digital literacy skills to both the educators and the learners. The digital literacy tool has been successfully used in the South Pacific to evaluate digital literacy competencies and further improve the digital literacy competencies of the selected sample. As such, the digital literacy tool can be used to improve digital literacy of individuals in the developed and developing economies hence promoting educational resilience for all in the technology-enabled environment. // Paper ID 6338
Open Access
Building Networks for Mutual Benefit: The Education Network Australia and the Pursuit of Added Value
(1999-03) Trask, Jan; Mason, Jon; Dellit, Jillian
PCF1 // Working paper presented by Jan Trask, Jon Mason, and Jillian Dellit at the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF1) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. //
Open Access
Building Resilience to Ensure Teaching and Learning Continuity in the 2020 Pandemic Lockdown: A Consideration of Issues Challenges and Strategies at the National University of Samoa
(2022-09) Chan Mow, Ioana T; Faleupolu Tevita, Sarai
PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // This paper demonstrates the leveraging of technology to build resilience in educational systems to ensure learning continuity during disruptions due to pandemics or natural disasters. The paper describes how resilience is achieved through the implementation of the National University of Samoa (NUS) Moodle workplan for transitioning to the new normal of online learning when Samoa went into voluntary lockdown, in response to the threat of Covid-19. Previously, NUS conducted most of its courses in face-to-face (F2F) mode with some courses using blended delivery or blended mode of learning. But in early 2020, with the emergence of Covid-19, and the sudden lockdown of the whole country, it was crucial that NUS transition all its courses to online mode and hosted in Moodle, the university’s Learner Management system. Key factors determining the scope of this implementation were: i) access to devices, ii) access to the Internet, iii) sufficient bandwidth to ensure uninterrupted and reasonably fast access to Moodle, iv) sufficient processor power of servers to handle the volume of processing iv) the number of simultaneous users on Moodle, vi) skill level of staff and students to use Moodle. The paper discusses the implementation details of this transitioning to online such as the conversion of courses to digital and uploading to Moodle, training of staff on the use of Moodle, and upgrading infrastructure. Challenges and issues encountered in this implementation which include access, bandwidth and congestion, and learner engagement, are also discussed as well as a set of recommendations to build resilience and ensure teaching and learning continuity in future lockdowns. // Paper ID 9596
Open Access
Change Management: How to Really Make Open Learning Work
(1999-03) Williams, Dennis
PCF1 // Working paper presented by Dennis Williams at the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF1) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. //
Open Access
Collaborative Research Projects in Creating Distributed Learning Environment in Multicultural Context
(2004-07) Bhattacharya, Madhumita; Jorgensen, Lone
PCF3 // Globalization of education in a true sense cannot be achieved only by establishing accessibility, developing cost effective technologies. We also need to understand the issues underpinning the problem. An innovative approach in overcoming the cultural barriers in reaching wider audience has been discussed in this paper.
Open Access
Common Wealth Through Community Men’s Sheds: Lives and Learning Networks Beyond Work
(2008-09) Golding, Barry
PCF5 Sub-theme: Livelihoods // This paper explores the recent phenomenon and benefits of community men’s sheds in Australia, focusing on the important role sheds and workshop-based practice plays in creating informal learning and friendship networks for men. It is based on recent studies of organizations and contexts in Australia that informally and effectively engage men. Problems are identified with front-end models of vocational training that disregard or undervalue the lifetime of skills and experiences built up by men in previous paid work roles and in adult and community education sectors that tend not to cater for men or diverse masculinities. Insights are provided into ways in which men’s skills and experiences can be shared, transferred, valued and celebrated in men’s livelihoods beyond paid work, through regular, shared, handson activity in gendered communities of practice. It particularly explores the untapped potential of open and flexible shed-based practice for men’s vocational retraining, lifelong learning and inter-generational skills transfer. The ‘open’ and inclusive nature of the community shed and what occurs in it and its pedagogical familiarity with men are identified as its key strengths. The paper identifies what it is about the nature of community-based men’s sheds that has proven to be increasingly popular, productive and therapeutic in Australia in the past decade. One of my purposes at presenting at this conference is to seek out, identify and learn about different and similar insights from conference participants from other countries that might contribute to an ongoing international study of men’s informal learning beyond the workplace. My paper particularly seeks to identify shed and workshop-type settings and organizations in other national and cultural contexts that might play a similar role in the livelihoods of men, families and communities. // Paper ID 380