The political attention education issues are getting in the lead-up to the federal election may be an opportunity to demand politicians focus on issues that matter to schools and their communities.
We have undertaken a number of projects around teacher data literacy and design for learning, and the idea of making learning visible.
Much of this work is around how teachers (across sectors) think about the data they use in their practice, and what features of learning processes and products they would like insight into.
A body of our work has been on the design of learning environments to support learning, drawing on technology both in the design process, and to enhance the learning environments.
Learning is a fundamentally social process. We know that certain kinds of dialogue support learning. Technologies have the potential to foster this dialogue, helping people to make their reasoning explicit, engage with each other, and engage in dialogic (or many voiced) learning.
High Possibility Classrooms (HPC) is a framework for pedagogy that supports teachers to think through their planning, the subject matter they teach, and the ways learning can be reimagined through innovative uses of technology to engage and motivate students.
Work led by Keith Heggart explores civics and citizenship education from the perspectives of practitioners and participants, and especially the role that technology enhanced learning fulfils within this field.
As part of the Justice Pedagogy framework, engagement, advocacy and critical interrogation of the public sphere (however and wherever it manifests) is central to the development of active citizens.
In a project led by Kalervo Gulson (USyd), centre members are collaborating with the Gradient Institute and ANU’s Claire Benn to co-design an ‘algorithm game’ intending to explore issues around fairness and data, using the case study of the 2020 UK Exams Algorithm Controversy.
The iPAC Framework highlights three approaches that are distinctive to mobile learning: Personalisation, Authenticity and Collaboration (or ‘PAC’). How learners experience these signature mobile pedagogies is influenced by how they exploit a more flexible ‘time-space’ (or context) when learning with mobile devices.
A significant body of centre research has focused on developing assessment strategies that support learning. These approaches have included:
Development of the REVIEW software for self-assessment Creation of learning analytics tools, particularly focused on ‘professional reflection’ to support professional development Analysis of ‘benchmarking’ tasks and use of exemplars to support learning (you can read more about this project here ) Designing approaches to assessing 21st century competencies, and holistic assessment for university entry (see Darral’s UTS Social Impact case study ) The idea of building up student’s ‘evaluative judgement’ is common across these, and described in a bit more detail below.
Projects in this space have investigated teacher professional development and professional learning networks (PLNs) and the role of technology in supporting these.
Visit the Teacher Professional Learning Networks site In the video-case below, UTS pre-service teachers discuss their use of self-initiated online PLNs (top RHS of Table above) to support their development as teachers.