"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." by Winston Churchill.

This section contains information relating to current ACODE projects. See ACODE projects for information relating to completed  projects, including teh ACODE Benchmarks.

Australian Annual Higher Education Student ICT Study (AAHESIS) Project

June 2010

The aim of the project is to provide a survey instrument and process that will provide information about ICT capability, use and experience of commencing higher education students in Australia. As more and more higher education institutions begin offering online courses and seek to cater for diverse student groups, the complexity of accommodating differences in student preparedness, including ICT skills, for higher education study will increase. The availability of the information gathered by this survey will enable universities to better target their programs and services to support students’ success.

e-Maturity Model

The E-Learning Maturity Model (eMM) provides a means by which institutions can assess and compare their capability to sustainably develop, deploy and support e-learning. The eMM is based on the ideas of the Capability Maturity Model and SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination) methodologies.

The underlying idea that guides the development of the eMM is that the ability of an institution to be effective in any particular area of work is dependent on their capability to engage in high quality processes that are reproducible and able to be extended and sustained as demand grows.

Invitation to participate in an Australian University Sector eMM Project

At the last ACODE business meeting a report summarising the ACODE pilot of the e-learning Maturity Model (eMM) was provided to members (see http://www.utdc.vuw.ac.nz/research/emm/acode/ for electronic copies). In light of the success of the pilot, we are planning to undertake a much larger scale project applying the eMM to as many Australian universities as possible over an 18 month to two-year period.

Questions

NOTE: responses are indications not commitments; we will follow-up with requests for formal commitments if there is sufficient interest – all responses will be treated in the strictest confidence.

1. Would your institution be sufficiently interested in being part of an eMM assessment project that it would be prepared (if asked) to provide a letter of provisional support signed by a senior manager (PVC L&T or similar)?
2. Is there a natural grouping of other universities that you would like to work with during the assessment process?
3. All direct costs of the project will be sought from the external funders. If they requested a tangible contribution as a measure of commitment what amount, if any, might be available to support your institutions involvement, perhaps to cover costs associated with additional slices pertinent to your institutions situation?

Please send your responses to Stephen.Marshall@vuw.ac.nz by the 13^th of November. If you have any questions or need additional information before responding, please contact Stephen Marshall (Stephen.Marshall@vuw.ac.nz).

Benchmarks

ACODE has funded the development of benchmarks for the use of technology in learning and teaching (e-learning is used for the sake of convenience while recognizing that some institutions refer to their practice with terms such as flexible learning).

The purpose of the benchmarks is to support continuous quality improvement in e-learning. The approach reflects an enterprise perspective, integrating the key issue of pedagogy with institutional dimensions such as planning, staff development and infrastructure provision. The benchmarks have been developed for use at the enterprise level or by the organisational areas responsible for the provision of leadership and services in this area. They have been piloted in universities and independently reviewed.

Each benchmark area is discrete and can be used alone or in combination with others. Benchmarks can be used for self assessment purposes (in one or several areas), or as part of a collaborative benchmarking exercise.

The benchmarks cover the following eight separate topic areas have been internationally reviewed.

· Institution policy and governance for technology supported learning and teaching

· Planning for, and quality improvement of the integration of technologies for learning and teaching

· Information technology infrastructure to support learning and teaching

· Pedagogical application of information and communication technology

· Professional/staff development for the effective use of technologies for learning and teaching

· Staff support for the use of technologies for learning and teaching

· Student training for the effective use of technologies for learning

· Student support for the use of technologies for learning

We encourage you to use these benchmarks and provide us with feedback. A set of guidelines and a case study have been developed to assist you. In any report please refer to these benchmarks as the 'ACODE benchmarks for e-learning in universities'.

Academic Integrity Audit Project

The issue of plagiarism is of interest to ACODE member institutions, including policy makers, teachers and support staff.  As the peak body associated with practical and policy issues in higher education in Australasia, ACODE funded an audit of academic integrity and plagiarism issues in Australia and New Zealand.  This project was carried out through the Teaching and Learning Centre at Murdoch University.

The aim of this project was to conduct an Australasian audit of initiatives about academic integrity, including plagiarism and measures intended to reduce its frequency, culminating in the development of a repository of academic integrity resources.

A website was developed which provides a snapshot of the current state of play in academic integrity in Australasia and elsewhere. The final report of the project can be downloaded.

Any information in relation to this project can be directed to Dr Rob Phillips.

Professionalisation Project

'Portfolios for Flexible Learning Designers/Developers'

Aims and significance

The aim of this project is to identify the nature of the evidence, and from whom and how it can be gathered, that flexible learning designers/developers can use for the preparation of portfolios for academic promotion and professional development.

The significance of this investigation is that it will meet a dire need in the higher education sector to identify flexible learning designer/developers as a profession with an articulated career path. This project will identify a range of key parameters to guide the construction of portfolios that effectively reflect their roles, responsibilities and expertise. In turn, the development of quality portfolios will inform the development of benchmarking for best practice and the identification of career paths for this emerging profession. The project will:

1. Identify a range of stakeholders with whom designers/developers work
2. Identify a range of artefacts which can serve as evidence for portfolios
3. Identify processes by which designers/developers can gather evidence to support the development of portfolios
4. Produce a resource 'How to prepare a portfolio for academic promotion and professional developmen'’ for the ACODE website, a report to ACODE, an ACODE workshop, and a conference paper.

This project commenced in November 2005 and concluded in October 2006 - the reports are shown below and are saved in a PDF format. For further information on this project, please contact the Project Manager Ms Jenny Bird at Southern Cross University.