Online teaching in Canberra

The University of Canberra is having a Learning & Teaching Week, 9-12 September, 2008 with free events, which non-UoC people are invited to. After announcing "My Last Lecture", I was invited to come along to their panel session on "The Lecture is not dead!". The seminar "e-Assessment: More than just a grade", and workshops "Seven Levers for Higher and Deeper Learning" and "Successful learning by design" also look useful.

Keynote speakers are:
Professor Tom Angelo, Director of the Curriculum, Teaching & Learning Centre, La Trobe University and author of "Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, Classroom Research: Early Lessons from Success" (1991) and " Classroom Assessment and Classroom Research: An Update on Uses, Approaches, and Research Findings" (1998).
Professor Geoffrey Crisp, Director of the Centre for Learning and Professional Development, University of Adelaide and author of the "e-Assessment Handbook".

Learning and Teaching Week session abstracts:
Seven Levers for Higher and Deeper Learning: Research-based Guidelines and Strategies for Improving Teaching, Assessment, and Learning
How much would you trust a physician, engineer, athletic coach, or nurse who didn't keep up with and apply lessons from relevant research in his/her field? Or one who couldn't apply basic principles of good practice to new situations, with new client populations, or in using new technologies? Probably not much. Yet many faculty and academic administrators remain (relatively) unaware of current research -- in psychology, cognitive science, and education -- on teaching, learning, and assessment and on its relevance to our daily practice. This interactive workshop will explore seven research-based guidelines and provide examples of simple, powerful applications to improve teaching, assessment, and student learning in and beyond our (virtual and actual) classrooms.
Successful Learning by Design: Making Courses Clear, Coherent, Connected, and Consequential
While effective teaching is clearly important, good course design may ultimately matter more in supporting learning. In a well-designed course, even an inexperienced but willing teacher can help average students achieve above-average learning. In a poorly designed course, on the other hand, even experienced, excellent teachers and above-average students struggle simply to survive. This workshop provides several simple, practical strategies for designing/redesigning undergraduate courses to promote learning outcomes effectively and efficiently. Key concepts demonstrated include: strategic alignment, backward design, cognitive loading – as well as the “parrot” and “bus” tests for course design quality. Please bring the syllabus, outline, or description of a course you hope to design or redesign.
e-Assessment: more than just a grade
This session explores some of the opportunities offered by online assessment to improve student outcomes and the quality of the assessment tasks. The work is based on the Carrick Associate Fellowship project and describes how academics can prepare interactive, computer-based assessments using helper tools such as browser plugins, java applets, QuickTime VR and Flash. The aim of the project is to assist teachers to move beyond simple multiple choice questions in an online environment to provide much richer, authentic and meaningful assessment tasks for students.