Education Commons^™

Cloud Computing: Strategies For Cloud Computing Adoption, Faith J. Shimba

Faith Joel Shimba

The advent of cloud computing in recent years has sparked an interest from different IT stakeholders. This is a result of the new economic model for the IT department that cloud computing promises. The model promises to remove the need for heavy investment for limited IT resources towards renting IT resources and paying based on usage. Although, the adoption of cloud computing promises various benefits to organizations, a successful adoption requires an understanding of different dynamics and expertise in diverse domains. Currently there are inadequate guidelines for adoption and this book proposes a roadmap for cloud computing adoption called ROCCA. …

Essential Responsibilities Of Student Affairs Administrators: Identifying A Purpose In Life And Helping Students Do The Same, Christy M. Craft, Robin Hochella

Christy Moran Craft

As part of a larger investigation into the spiritual lives of student affairs administrators, the first author interviewed 24 practitioners representing four types of institutions to determine how they think about issues related to their purpose in life. The results of the study provide insight into the importance of reflecting upon such issues in order to be equipped to assist students in their own identification of a purpose in life.

A Breath Of Fresh Air: Reflecting On The Changing Practices Of Assessment Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Prior to a flight we are reminded that in an emergency we are to place the oxygen mask on our own faces before we place them on a child to ensure we can assist the child. Unfortunately, with regard to teacher learning. ..we spend a great deal of time placing oxygen masks on other people's faces while we ourselves are suffocating" (Zederayko & Ward, 1999: 36 [28]). To breathe in some new ideas on assessment for learners in the changing online world, academic staff need to have time, energy and will for fresh reflections and collective dialogue upon their innovations. …

Reinvigorating Educational Design For An Online World, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

With changes to higher education being significantly impacted by the rapid pace of technological evolution in the new millennium, there is a need to find greater humanity in the course development process. As traditional mediators and creative collaborators in the process of course design, educational designers are well positioned to bring spirit and soul to their work with academic staff. This paper explores the need for reinvigorating teaching and learning relationships through creative, post-egoist meaningful approaches to educational design in times of enormous technological and workplace change.

Interaction Online: Above And Beyond The Requirements Of Assessment, Meg O'Reilly, Diane Newton

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Today’s literature is filled with new paradigms for learning, specifically in relation to the increasing adoption of computer-mediated techniques for interactive learning. In many cases, learning may now be enhanced through the experience of a shared online environment for critical discussion, knowledge building and the establishment of supportive social communities. Research data obtained from social science students at Southern Cross University over two semesters reveals students’ perceptions of the importance of online discussion whether these are assessable or not. This paper presents some findings and explores the impact of the emergence of a student-centred social learning environment.

In At The Deep End: Swapping Roles Through Staff Development Online, Meg O'Reilly, Allan Ellis

Dr Meg O'Reilly

After reviewing questions about how Australian Universities carry out staff development for online teaching and learning, this paper reports on an initiative that has brought together the outcomes of previous research into an online resource and workshop. Having piloted these, the full version of the workshop was recently completed by a group of staff at Southern Cross University. The authors reflect upon experiences of swapping roles – teachers becoming learners, and educational designer (usually a student advocate in the design process) becoming the teacher. Reflections on experiences are reported from reflective journal and evaluation data.

Using Cross-Disciplinary Action Learning Sets When Designing Online Assessment, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The drive to find appropriate ways to integrate online technologies into assessment has come about within Australian higher education as a consequence of widely held aspirations to remain competitive in the global marketplace. An action research initiative at Southern Cross University reported in this paper suggests both extrinsic and intrinsic reasons why academics considering online assessment may or may not follow through with immediate implementation. More specifically, a crossdisciplinary action learning set in the case study presented has shown benefits in approaching educational design as a cyclical, collegial, creative and reflexive process for planning, implementing and evaluating online assessment.

Educational Design As Transdisciplinary Partnership: Supporting Assessment Design For Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The design of student assessment for the online context can be a disquieting experience without the support of colleagues and a group of peers from across a range of disciplines with whom to share ideas. This paper reports on interviews conducted with academic “peak performers” as well as some educational design practitioners about the current practices of designing for online assessment. A transdisciplinary approach to educational design is proposed for further exploration.

Case Studies Of Online Assessment, Meg O'Reilly, Sue Bennett, Michael J. Keppell

Dr Meg O'Reilly

This paper outlines the progress to date of a project to compile, analyse and share examples of innovative online assessment activities using; online testing; teamwork and collaboration; simulations and role plays, and dialogue with experts and across cultures. The aim of this research is to provide teaching academics and educational developers with examples of assessment strategies that have been successfully applied in higher education, and to derive a number of key principles about online assessment that will be useful for future research. The project involves case studies from two Australian universities, which have been used to develop an initial set …

Community, Exchange And Diversity: The Carrick Exchange, Robyn Philip, Geraldine Lefoe, Meg O'Reilly, Dominique Parrish

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The Carrick Exchange is a significant new online service that will provide communication and collaboration services, and learning and teaching resources across the Australian and international higher education sectors. The Carrick Exchange is sponsored by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. It is for those who teach, manage and lead learning and teaching in Australian higher education. The Carrick Exchange aims to provide access to quality learning materials and resources; information about new technologies and ideas that impact on teaching practice and student learning; opportunities for academic and support staff to network with others, comment on …

Towards Using Www For Teaching And Learning, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Traditional forms of distance education course delivery rely on paper based exchange of information and invariably suffer from an extreme paucity of dialogue. On the other hand, telecommunications-based education (Debreceny, Ellis & Chua, 1995) makes use of both existing and new technologies for a variety of options in course delivery which maximise dialogue, interaction and interactivity.

Designing Webcds: A Low Cost Option To Enhance Learning And Interaction, Meg O'Reilly, Chris Morgan

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Candidates of Southern Cross University's Doctor of Business Administration are a unique group. Demands by these senior executives for flexibility of delivery and portability of courseware has been the recent impetus for course redesign. Informed by a student survey and expressed needs of staff, instructional designers focused on a low cost hybrid model for delivery of study resources. A collection of Web linked CDROMs have been designed to utilise advantages of online interaction while storing high resolution video materials without limitations of bandwidth and unwieldy download times. Enhancements to teaching, learning and assessment approaches are discussed.

Staff Development Responses To The Demand For Online Teaching And Learning, Allan Ellis, Meg O'Reilly, Roger Debreceny

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Australian universities are coming under increasing demand to deliver online courses. This demand is driven by four main factors; 1) the increasing availability of multimedia capable computers, fast modems and Internet access; 2) the emergence of online technologies such as the WWW that provides a crossplatform, non-proprietary multimedia delivery system; 3) the promise of enhancements to the quality of the teaching and learning experience; and 4) being part of the global education market. The academic who teaches successfully online now needs a knowledge of both pedagogy as it applies to the online environment and a knowledge of current appropriate software, …

Staff Development By Immersion In Interactive Learning Online, Meg O'Reilly, Jennifer M. Brown

Dr Meg O'Reilly

This is a story from an Australian perspective of the changes in staff development approaches over the past few years, in response to the rapidly changing educational and technological environments. In particular the authors reflect upon initiatives implemented and those planned for the future at Southern Cross University, as a result of the impact of staff development activities in our own institution and in other Australian universities to date. The paper concludes with a plan for the Teaching and Learning Centre’s website to move beyond delivery of information, exemplars and resources, to support a program of active immersion of staff …

Resource Directory For Assessing Learners Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

To address the need for critical research, and to target access to the wide range of resources in the field of online assessment practices in higher education now published on the Internet itself, a research project has recently commenced at Southern Cross University. This project aims to improve the online assessment practices of academic staff through reflective practice and action research. An accompanying website is under development to provide a directory of resources including examples of the practices and theories pertaining to assessment online, as well as links to published literature. The poster presentation will provide access to this resource …

Educational Design As Transdisciplinary Partnership: Supporting Assessment Design For Online, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

The design of student assessment for the online context can be a disquieting experience without the support of colleagues and a group of peers from across a range of disciplines with whom to share ideas. This paper reports on interviews conducted with academic “peak performers” as well as some educational design practitioners about the current practices of designing for online assessment. A transdisciplinary approach to educational design is proposed for further exploration.

White Paper: Effects Of The Men’S Program On Male Soldiers’ Bystander Intervention, Likelihood Of Raping, And Attitudes Toward Rape: A Pretest/Posttest Controlled Study, Final Report, United States Army - Europe, John D. Foubert

John D. Foubert

Non-commissioned officers were trained to present a one-hour rape prevention workshop, The Men’s Program, to approximately 250 soldiers in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany. Another group of approximately 250 soldiers saw a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program unit brief presented by a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator/Family Advocacy Program Manager. Participants were administered pretests and posttests to determine the effectiveness of these two programs. This report details the findings of the pretest and posttest assessment. An unsuccessful attempt was made to collect data 6 months after programs were presented. Valuable lessons were learned that will be useful for future …

Supply Issues For Science Academics In Australia: Now And In The Future, Daniel Edwards, Fred Smith

Dr Daniel Edwards

Australia, like the rest of the developed world, is in the midst of dealing with notable issues related to the age structure of its academic workforce. These issues are widespread and have been articulated in the Australian context most comprehensively by Hugo (2008). This paper investigates issues with demographic change and other key

factors related to the desirability of a science or mathematics academic career within

Australian universities. It draws on the findings of a research project undertaken in 2008

for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The findings show that while demographic issues are not as dire …

The Professional Doctorate On Webcd, Meg O'Reilly, Chris Morgan

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Students enrolled in Southern Cross University's (SCU) Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) are a unique group of senior business people. Their demand for greater flexibility of delivery and portability of study materials was the impetus for a redesign of this professional degree at SCU. With a rapidly growing student base around Australia and SEAsia, DBA study packages must be suitable for a very mobile and busy professional group. Most have convenient access to computers and network connection, unlike students in many other programs. On the other hand, DBA students do not have much time to devote to study. They are …

Interaction Online: Above And Beyond The Requirements Of Assessment, Meg O'Reilly, Diane Newton

Dr Meg O'Reilly

Today’s literature is filled with new paradigms for learning, specifically in relation to the increasing adoption of computer-mediated techniques for interactive learning. In many cases, learning may now be enhanced through the experience of a shared online environment for critical discussion, knowledge building and the establishment of supportive social communities. Research data obtained from social science students at Southern Cross University over two semesters reveals students’ perceptions of the importance of online discussion whether these are assessable or not. This paper presents some findings and explores the impact of the emergence of a student-centred social learning environment.

The Progression Of The College Admissions Professional, Christopher Tremblay, Ed.D

Christopher W Tremblay, Ed.D

No abstract provided.

Academic Readiness For College: The Role Of School Administrators, Chul Lee, Eunyoung Kim

Eunyoung Kim

The study utilized the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to identify which characteristics of academically effective high schools are key determinants of students' academic readiness for college. A multilevel analysis shows that high school characteristics affect student preparation for college in four core subject areas: reading, math, science, and history. In addition, prior academic achievement is the strongest predictor of academic readiness, followed by high school socioeconomic status and high school climate. Results indicate that students attending schools where academics are emphasized are more likely to succeed, suggesting a systematic link between student achievement and academic climate.

Rehabilitating Closed Schools: A Daunting Challenge For Pakistan, Wasim Qazi, Khalid Rawat, Shams Hamid

Wasim Qazi

There are 6034 non-operational schools in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh further complicating the work of the donor agencies; more than half of these non-operational schools (3843) only exist on papers. These shadow schools exist only to usurp international aid earmarked for education. Our research shows that proximity to the population; unavailability of teachers; and lack of infrastructure are some of the fundamental causes driving the closure of more than thirteen percent of schools. Our position is that a large number of these schools can be rehabilitated but that requires a three-phased plan. If implemented, proposed plan would enhance transparency …

From ‘Harry Potter’ To ‘Bachelor Boy’ And Beyond: Bridging The Gap Between Expectations And Reality For First Year Students, Sarah O' Shea, Pauline Lysaght

Dr Sarah E O' Shea

No abstract provided.

Free Textbook Distribution Process In Sindh, Pakistan: A Study Of Stakeholders Perceptions, Wasim Qazi, Khalid Rawat, Shams Hamid, Halah Simon

Wasim Qazi

Placed amongst the lower middle income countries (The World Bank 2010), a large segment of the population of Pakistan is unable to afford the expenses on basic amenities including education. In year 2003, the Government of Sindh, initiated a free textbooks scheme.

This study investigates the transparency and efficiency of distribution process; examines the challenges and opportunities of the procurement and delivery process; and assesses the perceptions and feedback of the stakeholders. The study was conducted in all the districts of Sindh Province. The data were collected through analysis of documents, field survey, focus group discussions and interviews.

The study …

The News About Sovereignty, Ronald D. Smith

Ronald D Smith APR

A study of New York State Media Coverage on the Sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee

Modernist Pedagogy At The End Of The Lecture: It And The Poetics Classroom, Alan Filreis

Alan Filreis

Describes a modernist pedagogy based on the end of the lecture as we know it and a convergence of poetics, universities and the rise of digital media.

Role Of Private Sector In Higher Education Of Pakistan: Predicaments And Insights, Wasim Qazi Dr., Halah C. Simon, Khalid J. Rawat, Shams Hamid

Wasim Qazi

The nationalization of industry and education in the early 1970s resulted in the deterioration of private sector with minimal investment in this field. This continued into late 90s with Pakistan recording comparatively low public spending on education as a percentage of GDP . Thus the government of Pakistan, in an effort to enhance intellectual capital and enrollments, established the Higher Education Commission (HEC) assigned to evaluate, improve and promote the higher education and research culture in both public and private sectors in Pakistan. Since its establishment in 2002, the HEC has “undertaken a systematic process of implementation of the five-year …

In Their Own Words: Sophomore College Men Describe Attitude And Behavior Changes Resulting From A Rape Prevention Program Two Years After Their Participation., John D. Foubert, Eric Godin, Jerry Tatum

John D. Foubert

The study conducted involved assessing students from a Southeastern public university during two academic years, after their participation in an all-male sexual assault peer education program. The study findings revealed that 79% of 184 college men reported attitude change, behavior change, or both. Furthermore, a multistage inductive analysis revealed that after seeing The Men’s Program, men intervened to prevent rapes from happening. Participants also modified their behavior to avoid committing sexual assault when they or a potential partner were under the influence of alcohol. Implications for future research were discussed.

Evaluación Institucional En La Unam: Primer Volumen (2009), Imanol Ordorika, Roberto Rodríguez Gómez

Imanol Ordorika

No abstract provided.