The Rosie Effect in Canberra

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Graeme Simsion is talking about his new book "The Rosie Effect: A Novel". In his introduction Colin Steele mentioned how most of the women in the audience at the talk for his previous book "The Rosie Project", were in love with the leading character in the book and projected this on to Graeme (I confess these were my comments). Graeme related story of how he went from a computer geek to a best selling author with much laughter (and some gently digs at acadmeia) along the way.

The central character on Graeme's books is Professor Don Tillman. The running joke in the books is that Don Tilman is a classic nerd, who applies the scientific method to social situations. Graeme explained that the character was based on a computer nerd and only did others ascribe this to Asperger syndrome. Graeme points out that he did not put this label on the character.

Graeme has also written the script for the film version of the Rosie Effect, to be made by Sony.

One of the unexpected laughs for the evening when Graeme was asked about how hard writing was. He replied that he had written two books about data analysis before a novel. The laugh came when he said "I realise that data analysis is not the same as romantic comedy", but then explained that writing s novel or s script is a process which requires structure and so data analysis skills apply. This is described in detail in a TEDx talk: "It's all design, from IT projects to The Rosie Project" (TEDxUniMelb, Oct 4, 2013).

I felt a little conspicuous sitting in the front row typing this blog posting, wearing a waterproof jacket (like Don Tillman).

ps: Australian now has the Autism CRC, the world’s first national, cooperative research effort focused on Autism. Perhaps Professor Don Tillman should be on the staff. ;-)

Post-nominals for Qualifications

Having spent a year learning about education, I thought I had done the hard part. But almost as difficult it seems is the process of obtaining my results. I had assumed that on completion of all the requirements for an educational program, there would be a week or two for the administrative processes and I would be sent my certificate. However, I have found that this process takes 6 to 8 weeks for a vocational institution and about four months for a university. In the case of the vocational institution the process is automatic, but for the university it is necessary to apply for an award.

Also there is the process of the awards ceremony. It may be fun to dress up in an academic gown, but this delays the awarding of certificates as the ceremonies are only held a few times a year. This seems an unnecessary encumbrance in the Internet age: why not issue the certificate (preferably electronically) immediately and have the (optional) ceremony later? It seems bizarre to spend effort making sure that students can get through a course quickly and then hold up awarding of the qualification for months.

Then there is the matter of working out what post-nominals you can have (letter after your name) and in what order they appear. The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) has a policy on qualification titles, including abbreviations for in postnominals. Institutions issue their own guidance but this can be cryptic. The ECU Authorized Post Nominals is a more comprehensive list. In other cases you may have to look for examples in publications, such as the ANU College OF Business Report.

Then the is the question of the order in which post nominals are listed.  According to the Oxford University Calendar Notes on Style: "The overall order is civil honours; military honours; QC; degrees; diplomas; certificates; membership of academic or professional bodies.".

Higher Education Whisperer Helping Improve University Course Design

For the second year running I received high student feedback scores for the course "ICT Sustainability" I designed and run at the Australian National University. Other lecturers have asked how I did this and for tips on improving their courses. I didn't think I was doing anything exceptional with course design or assessment. But then realized I had spent a year studying for a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and four years refining on-line course design and delivery. In that time I guess I learned a thing or two. So I thought I would offer some tips on how to improve courses.

The title "Higher Education Whisperer" is inspired by Dr Inger Mewburn's "Thesis Whisperer" blog. The term whispering is from horse whispering: training based on a rapport with the animal, observing behavior and having respect. I have found the same applies to students: you need to see things from the student's point of view, look at what they actually do and treat them as people. A teacher who assumes their students are stupid, lazy and dishonest should not be surprised if they do not inspire effort from the students and get poor feedback scores.

The best way I have found to see things from the student's perspective is to enroll in a course. The obvious course to enroll in is one on teaching, where you can look at the research available on student behavior. It can be difficult for a teacher to come to terms with student behavior, even when confronted by the evidence. The most obvious case is with assessment. Assessment is very important to students, which should be obvious to teachers, but many design courses with assessment as an afterthought.

The first thing to look at to improve a course is the assessment. In a recent case I looked at the assessment for a course which was not popular with students. The first obvious problem was that there was a 60% final examination. Such examinations are very stressful for students (and for staff making them), not useful aid to learning and not an effective way to assess what students have learned. So I suggested reducing the exam to 30%.

Also I suggested moving more of the assessment to the first half of the course (up from 20% to 44%). Staff complain that students don't study until just before the final exam, but if you design the assessment that way, what can you expect? Increasing an early assignment from 7% to 20% provided more reward for the student's effort and the opportunity for this to be a learning exercise not just final assessment. For simplicity I suggested also increasing the second assignment from 13% to 20% to match the first.

The course already had 15% allocated for small weekly assessment items. This is a good way to keep students working and also having them pay attention to feedback provided (as it has a mark attached). But the assessment scheme confusingly had the top 10 of 12 items assessed. I suggested a simple sum of all 12 weeks, increased to 24% (2% per week).

Also it is important that students get their mark and feedback promptly each week for the previous week. This is particularly important early in a course so that students who are not doing well (or not doing anything) get the message: "Shape up or ship out".

The final suggested scheme was:

1. Weekly Work: 24% (+9%) 
2. Assignment 1: 20% (+13%)
3. Mid Semester Exam: 10% (+5%)
4. Assignment 2:20% (+7%)
5. Final Exam: 26% (-34%)

Obviously the assessment scheme could be revised further, but these changes should greatly reduce the stress on students (and on staff).

Another change is to make deadline firm. Teachers make the mistake of thinking if they provide "flexibility" with assessment it will be appreciated by students. But if you have rubbery deadlines you will cause confusion, stress and a perception of unfairness. If there is a deadline for an assignment, then make it firm: students who do not submit on time get zero marks. Obviously there needs to be provision for special circumstances, such as due to illness. But this should be exceptional, not routine.

Particularly when training professionals, on whom the lives of the community depends (such as doctors, engineers and computer programmers)  deadlines matter. A professional who does not learn to deliver work on time is a danger to the community.

Unlimited Education

In "Uncapped university" Andee Jones (Online Opinion, 8 July 2013) writes: "Last year I enrolled in Masters-level courses ... academic equivalent of a chockers London Underground lift...". But which university and which masters course was this? My recent experience as a masters student was not like that, with small face-to-face classes and good on-line programs.

Universities, at least the ones I have attended recently (ANU and USQ) and the institutions I teach at (ANU and ACS CPEP), are very sensitive to comments from students. Students can complain to the university and government regulators. If you are unhappy with your course, then raise it with the internal university feedback processes, complain to the government regulator, and/or blog it.

If classrooms are grossly overcrowded, this may be a fire hazard which is a matter for local government authorities, who can order the building, or the whole campus, closed. When I have raised safety problems at a university, these have been quickly addressed. It helps if the VC's staff are reading your blog. ;-)

Another avenue for complaint is professional associations which accredit university courses. Universities are very keen to retain accreditation.

Also if you are unhappy with Australian universities, you can take your business elsewhere. There are other forms of education in Australia, such as Registered Training Organizations (RTOs). The RTOs have expanded beyond traditional trade courses. Recently I went through the certification process to teach in RTOs.

In addition there are smaller boutique programs connected to universities. I teach a course in the Australian Computer Society Computer Professional Education Program (ACS CPEP). The classes typically have twelve to twenty four students and the program is articulated to some university masters programs:

Ultimately, if you are not happy with Australian education, there are on-line university programs available from around the world. At the moment I am looking at doing the Masters in Learning Innovation by Distance Learning at University of Leicester.

ANU Plan for Success

In "Australian Universities and the Global Gymnasium" (June 23, 2013) I wrote that the Australian National University (ANU) had embarked on an exercise to save about $50M a year, asking staff and students for suggestions (including myself as an Adjunct Lecturer). Following the consultations, yesterday the Vice Chancellor released the ANU Budget package.

Provided are:

• Vice-Chancellor’s speech

Detailed proposals:
1. Revenue
2. Staffing
3. Non-staffing
4. Major strategic measures

•  financial summary 

These are provided as very readable web pages (apart from the financial summary, which is a blurry image).

The budget proposals appear moderate and well thought through. These seem reasonable initiatives for improving a university, even if there were no budget pressures.

The most interesting points for me were:

• Increase domestic undergraduate student numbers by 5% in 2014 and 11.8% in 2015, and international coursework student numbers by 1.5% in 2014 and 2015: The domestic target for 2015 seems overly ambitious, and the target for international students a bit low. I suggest ANU could use the same on-line recruiting material for both domestic and international students, as education is becoming global (or at least regional, in the Asian Century).
• Implementation of a new enquiry management system using a third party provider, Hobson’s, at a cost of $0.5M per year, with a return of $1.5M: The ANU needs an effective way to communicate with potential and current students. The Student lifecycle relationship management report (JISC, 2008) is a little dated but still relevant. My recommendation would have been for use of a free open source product supported by an Australian IT company, but Hobsons’ Education CRM Suite is a credible choice. It is used already by Australian universities and so is relatively low risk.
• On-line courses were identified as a major strategic opportunity for ANU, but no specific proposals were put forward: This is an area where I suggest ANU needs a strategy, for training staff in blended and e-learning and encouraging their wider use. This would reduce costs, make better use of existing infrastructure, improve course quality and increase enrollments. Within ten years most university courses will be on-line, supplemented by face-to-face components. A university which has not adjusted to this reality will not be viable.
• Savings of $2M per year through energy reduction is proposed (at a cost of $1M over two years for equipment and planning). This seems a conservative target, My ICT Sustainability students have conducted energy audits of ANU building and found considerable room for savings.

Higher Education Academy Professional Recognition Scheme

The UK based Higher Education Academy (HEA) runs the HEA Professional Recognition Scheme.
This is intended to lift the professionalism of university teaching. The scheme is aligned to the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF). There are four levels of recognition (and typical job descriptions):

1. AFHEA – Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Graduate Teaching Assistant)
2. FHEA – Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Lecturer)
3. SFHEA - Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (academic leader or middle management)
4. PFHEA – Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (senior leader)

The HEA is promoting their scheme internationally, with the Australian National University the first Australian subscribing institution. The HEA is more general than the Certified Membership Scheme run by UK Association for Learning Technology (ALT), which was also extended to Australia last year. The way the HEAPRS/UKPSF is structured is similar to schemes run for other professions, such as ACS CP/IP3/SFIA for computer professionals.

UK Professional Standards Framework

The UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) consists of:

Framework 

An Introduction.

Descriptors 

Four categories of level of teaching responsibility, corresponding to the four levels of HEA recognition:

1. Associate
2. Fellow
3. Senior Fellow
4. Principal Fellow

Dimensions of Practice 

Three dimensions of practice:

1. Areas of activity:
   
   1. Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study
   2. Teach and/or support learning
   3. Assess and give feedback to learners
   4. Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance
   5. Engage in continuing professional development in subjects/disciplines and their pedagogy, incorporating research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices
2. Aspects of Core knowledge:
   1. The subject material
   2. Appropriate methods for teaching and learning in the subject area and at the level of the academic programme
   3. How students learn, both generally and within their subject/disciplinary area(s)  
   4. The use and value of appropriate learning technologies
   5. Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of teaching
   6. The implications of quality assurance and quality enhancement for academic and professional practice with a particular focus on teaching
3. Professional values:
   1. Respect individual learners and diverse learning communities   
   2. Promote participation in higher education and equality of opportunity for learners
   3. Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and continuing professional development
   4. Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operates recognising the implications for professional practice

Australian Universities and the Global Gymnasium

Donald Meyers' book "Australian Universities: A Portrait of Decline" makes an interesting counterpoint to "Raising the Stakes: Gambling with the future of universities" (2013) by Peter Coaldrake and Lawrence Stedman. Both books criticize government interference in the running of universities, but Coaldrake and Stedman have a much more positive outlook on the future. Another difference is that Meyers' book is available free on-line, whereas the reader has to pay for access to Coaldrake and Stedman's words.

For a short summary of Meyers' book, see "The Academy in Decay" (Ruth F. G. Williams in Agenda, 19(2), ANU ePress 2012). This is available free online as a web pages, as well as free eBook and conventional paperback.

For those wondering about the title of the first section of Williams' article "The academy and the agora", "The academy" was the site of a sacred grove of olive trees near Athens and Plato's school of philosophy (thus the prototype university) whereas the agora was the ancient town square, used for both political meetings and commerce (depicted in the 2009 film Agora). But another ancient site of learning and physical activity may also be relevant: Gymnasium (more on this later).

Publications detailing past experiments in Australian tertiary education are timely, as Australia embarks on another grand experiment, with federal funds being redirected from universities to schools. Already this has lead to some rationalizations, with the University of Canberra cutting some language courses and sending student to ANU language classes instead.

A different perspective of higher education is provided by "The Idea of the Digital University: Ancient Traditions, Disruptive Technologies and the Battle for the Soul of Higher Education" by Frank Bryce McCluskey and Melanie Lynn Winter (2012). This book is about what lessons the "American Public University System" (a for-profit company), can teach the public system.

ANU Budget Consultation Process

The ANU has embarked on an exercise to save about $50M a year, asking staff and students for suggestions. I had an entertaining few weeks submitting eight suggestions for improving administrative, research and educational practices at ANU. Part of the fun is in seeing how the suggestions were edited by the ANU secretariat for publication. ANU has done a reasonable job consulting staff and made the brave decision to make the suggestions public. The summarization of the suggestions is reasonable and it will be interesting to see what decisions the ANU Council makes.

The ANU suggestions were grouped into four clusters and here are some I found most interesting:

1. Revenue
   • Grow student numbers (14 suggestions): The commentary suggests that domestic undergraduate students are the largest potential growth area, with the current deregulated environment, but ANU aims to remain a research-intensive university. Another reason not to pursue more domestic students is that the federal government, will likely introduce measures to curb government subsidies for these students in the next year. In Suggestion 101 "Professional development single courses" I proposed 'Rename the “Fee paying non-award” course option to “Professional development single courses”, as at USQ: This would encourage more full fee paying students.'
   • Pursue on-line courses (13 suggestions): Surprisingly, the commentary indicates that ANU has no strategy towards on-line courses. This is curious, as the university has invested in the technical infrastructure to support  on-line courses and use it to run the on-line ANU course COMP7310. The ANU  did not embark on a growth path with multiple Australian and international campuses, which has caused other universities financial problems. I suggest a relatively modest investment in training staff in on-line learning techniques and additional educational support staff could produce a growth in international student numbers (and revenue). Using new educational techniques this could also improve student outcomes. In  Suggestion 201 I proposed to "Convert the ... University Teaching and Learning modules to e-learning format. Make these a formal postgraduate course. Offer the course to ANU students. Encourage staff to use the course as a template for their own courses."
2. Non-staff expenses
   • Improve energy efficiency and actively reduce usage of energy (27 suggestions): The commentary envisages a saving of 10% on energy use (about $2M per year). This seems easily achievable from the work my ICT Sustainability masters students have done, assessing energy use of campus buildings
   • Examine ANU procurement and enable areas to seek best value for money – examples include office supplies, IT, refurbishment and cleaning (41 suggestions): The commentary discusses consolidation of purchasing to save costs. However, it would be worthwhile first looking for over-provisioning. As an example, as part of energy reduction measures, I have students categorize staff in an organization and then allocate the appropriate IT equipment. As well as save energy, this can save costs.
3. Staffing
   • Tighter and more transparent performance management, enforcement of performance expectations (28 suggestions): Measuring performance in a university can be difficult, with research delivering returns over a very long period and education subject to many external pressures. One measure not discussed by the commentary are performance measures on university departments (called "colleges" in ANU).
   • In Suggestion 178 I proposed 'Merge all the staff at ANU who support learning and course development at ANU into one organization along the lines of UniSA’s “Learning and Teaching Unit” (LTU)'.
4. Administration and systems
   • Consolidation/removal of duplication – general (46 suggestions): The commentary notes that ANU professional (non-academic) staff numbers are higher than any other GO8 university. However, ANU's emphasis on research requires more support staff. As an example, the ANU can't just use off the shelf computer hardware and software to support research into new IT systems and these bespoke systems (which will become the products of tomorrow) require more support. One example is the development of new e-learning software. But streamlining can be a false economy, in Suggestion 258 I proposed "Move ANU email to servers in Australia, using commercial contractors and/or a consortium of Australian universities.".
   • Streamline business and student processes into single processes for the entire University – general (31 suggestions): The commentary notes ANU's paper-based approach to administrative processes, but questions how quickly this could be changed. One way I suggest the change could be accelerated is through training of staff in on-line working. In many cases paper based forms with signatures (or their PDF equivalent) are devised where there is no need. I discussed this in
     Suggestion 234 "Remove most paper and PDF forms from ANU administration. Make use of the ANU’s on-line systems to record information.". To improve the quality of coruses,as well as streamline processes, in
     Suggestion 190 I suggested 'Add a field to Study-at for each course, to indicate if the Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) survey is conducted and make “yes” the default. Course conveners would have the option of changing the setting to “no”. The ANU’s IT system would read the setting in Study-at and issue the survey if the setting is “yes”. Also include a one to five star rating for each course in StudyAt, with a link to the detailed SELT results.' In Suggestion 98
     I proposed to 'Flip the Graduation Process
     Make awards to students within one week of their completing their program. Send an email with a link to the electronic copy of their certificate and details of how to receive an optional paper copy and attend an award ceremony. Issue electronic tickets for guests to attend the ceremony.' In Suggestion 200
     I proposed to "Flip ANU’s governance, by using on-line tools for consultation and decision making, in the same way the “flipped classroom” improves education. Rather than communicating detailed information verbally face to face at meetings, it can be placed on-line and then the valuable meeting time used for discussion and feedback"

Open Access e-Publishing Part of the Academy

Getting back to the commentary by Williams, they note that Meyers' book is only available as a free PDF document with commercial and university presses declining to publish it. However, this may be due more to commercial decisions as to what would sell, rather than a form of censorship. The PDF version of the book is very well formatted and at less than 1 Mbte is easy to download so is not limited in its distribution by not being released by a commercial publisher of a quasi-commercial publisher (ie: a loss making university press). The book is cataloged by the national Library of Australia, with a link to the PDF.

Meyers might consider making a print edition available through a Print on Demand service, such as Lulu. As it is, the typesetting of the book is much better done than many commercial and university presses.

Back to the Gymnasium

Williams' article used the academy and agora in discussing the academic and financial pressures facing universities. I suggest another inspiration from ancient Greece is the Gymnasium. This word is now used in English to refer exclusively to a place for physical exercise. However, in ancient Greece there were also for scholarship (the word gymnasium refers to an advanced secondary school in much of Europe).

In the original Gymnasium of ancient Greece,  scholarship existed alongside physical exercise and academia was not isolated from the everyday world of politics and commerce. More integration with the world would help Australian universities.

In 2008 I visited Delphi in Greece. Walking the sacred way I received no advice from the oracle, just a phone call. On returning to the Australian National University a few weeks later I had the curious feeling of being back at Delphi. As I walked from my office to the cafe opposite, I noticed covered walkway outside the sports centre with adjacent trees resembled the stoa the Gymnasium of Delphi. At the cafe, as athletes go past, staff students, public servants and business people discuss matters large and small, much as they would have done at Delphi thousands of years ago. For me the task of universities is how to retain this dialogue in an on-line world.

ps: I will be speaking on "MOOCs with Books" in the CSIRO Seminar Room at ANU, 4pm, 8 July 2013.

A Little of Don Tillman in All of Us

Greetings from the Paperchain Bookstore in Canberra, where Graeme Simsion is speaking about his book "The Rosie Project: A Novel".  Graeme started by making the case for independent booksellers (and he is at the top of their sales list at present). He related his own journey from an IT consultant, through being a struggling author. The book started as a script of a serious film called "The Face of God". The film rights have been purchased by Sony/Colombia. Graeme suggested Carey Mulligan for the character of "Rosie".

Graeme mentioned the problems in writing a book, including people identifiying with the characters. He said the character Peter Enticott was not based on "Peter G. Enticott", autism spectrum disorder researcher at Monash University.


It came as a surprise when I received an email from Graeme about his novel some months ago, as I only knew him as a data modeling expert, admittedly one who told wonderful stories as part of the education he provided. In reading the Rosie Project I could hear Graeme's voice and his development as a story teller.

Graeme's main character, Don Tillman, is a socially challenged academic, who tries to use intellect to navigate the perils of romance with hilarious results. When I first read the book I was a little annoyed that Graeme was having a dig at me (as with Don, if I am asked to "wait a minute" I will start my stopwatch, pre-plan exactly where to walk in a city on the other side of the planet), but then I realized that universities are full of such people. Graeme explained that he had met many characters in IT who were a "bit misunderstood", but the character is based on one friend.

Professor Don Tillman PhD has his own Twitter account. Also he can be found in a search of the Victorian Government website, under Geneticists. and on Zoom Info. There is also a real geneticist "D Tillman". Perhaps he needs together with my own fictional character, Professor Klerphell.

If you watch "Big Bang Theory" you will enjoy The Rosie Project.

ps: Federally funded Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Living with Autism Spectrum Disorders, is being set up in Australia.

Book on the Future of Australian Universities

In "Raising the Stakes: Gambling with the future of universities" (University Of Queensland Press, 2013), Peter Coaldrake and Lawrence Stedman look at where Australian universities came from and where they might be going. This book is very up to date, addressing recent university reforms by the Australian government and putting them into context. Most usefully they discuss the role of e- learning and of Massive Open On-line Course (MOOCs). Like any good academic work, this book raises more questions than it answers.
But Coaldrake and Stedman are cautious about predicting the future and seem to see universities being much as they are now. 

ps: Thanks to the ADFA library for their copy.

Information Technology Education in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan drummers
at the opening of ICCSE 2013.

Greetings from Colombo, Sri Lanka, where I am attending the opening of the 8th International Conference on Computer Science and Education (ICCSE 2013).
We started with a display of traditional Sri Lankan dancing and drums, followed by the national anthem and the lighting of an oil lamp. In his opening speech, the Sri Lanka Minister of Technology Research and Atomic Energy, Patali Champika Ranawaka, emphasized the economic, environmental and social benefits of national investment in education.  The conference is organized by the China Research Council of Computer Education in Colleges & Universities, Foreign Affair Committee (CRC-CE), co-sponsored by IEEE's Sri Lankan chapter and hosted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT). I will chairing the e-learning session on Sunday and presenting on "Synchronizing Asynchronous Learning: MOOCs with Books".

Boats on Canal in Colombo

Yesterday, before the formal conference, we had a tour of the main campus of SLIIT. This private institution is affiliated with numerous Australian universities, some UK ones and accredited to deliver programs in Sri Lanaka. SLIIT focuses on ICT and business courses. The main campus looks like that of an Australian vocational institution in the tropics.

The introductory briefing was conducted in a small lecture room for about 72 students. Interestingly they had very narrow tables (about 300 mm, which was just enough to accommodate my laptop) each seating four students in a row. There is a raised stage at the front. Video projection is direct to a white wall, with a freestanding white-board alongside.

I noticed a sign about mid semester one hour  examinations. SLIIT use Moodle for e-learning, but the primary teaching mode appears to be face-to-face in conventional classrooms. There is also a library seating about 140. The library appears to primarily provide multiple copies of textbooks for the students.We also looked at several computer labs with desktop PCs with LCD screens.

I noticed one course offered was Introduction to Renewable Energy from Curtin University. There may be scope for offering my ICT Sustainability course to the engineering, ICT and business students.

SLIIT has a startup incubator "Conceptnursery.Com", where students can lease a small office to work on their own start-up company. This is more lavishly equipped than Australian equivalents such as Fishburners and Entry 29. SLIIT provide a lockable office big enough for four staff, whereas the Australian equivalents offer just a time-shared desk in an open office for the base level. SLIIT might consider this option, as it would allow for many more startups.

An interesting issue is what effect will e-learning have on institutions like SLIIT.  Currently SLIIT acts as a satellite campus and feeder to for overseas institutions. Students can complete lower level qualifications at SLIIT and also travel to the overseas institution for advanced studies. However, if students can undertake much or all of their studies on-line, there may be less need for these partnerships. However, I think it is more likely that the services offered at campuses will change, as they are in Australia, with fewer lecture theaters and more informal spaces for small groups of students.

Lessons for Public Education from a US For-profit University

"The Idea of the Digital University: Ancient Traditions, Disruptive Technologies and the Battle for the Soul of Higher Education" by Frank Bryce McCluskey and Melanie Lynn Winter (2012) is a book which is thought provoking, but does not quite live up to the subtitle's promise of "Ancient Traditions, Disruptive Technologies and the Battle for the Soul of Higher Education".

The authors describe the traditional university, with the professor as a sole practitioner, with no formal training in education, teaching in an isolated classroom of students, year in year out. They discuss the push for on-line education and performance indicators threating this professor. The author's solution appears to be some sort of hybrid system, where the professor accepts a form of team teaching with their colleagues and some  monitoring by professional administrators, but with the academics retaining control of the curriculum.

While the authors start with the idea of a university in ancient Greece, the Library of Alexandra and medieval universities of Europe, the quickly jump to higher education in the USA. The point that the US university is strongly influenced by the German model of 200 years ago is well made. But much has happened with universities in Europe and elsewhere outside of the USA in the last 200 years, which the authors do not address.

The book is from a very narrow perspective: academics involved in a US for-profit US university, suggesting how the US university system can be improved . This book is really about what the "American Public University System" (which is a for-profit company, not a public system), can teach the US state based non-profit universities. The book has some points which may be of global interest, but with insufficient detail.

The description of the European universities of pure centers of learning uninterested in profit seems to not accord with reality. Institutions such as Cambridge University have been making money from their intellectual output and inventions for hundreds of years. Also tutoring was a private for-profit business at Oxbridge for hundreds of years.

The authors also seem to have skipped over significant non-US distance education institutions, such as the UK Open University, which has adapted its techniques from paper and post, through TV to the Internet.

The issue of inclusiveness is an important one covered by the authors. They point out that the metrics on student completion used to measure the effectiveness of universities assume students enroll, study and complete at one institution. Universities which cater for students who would not previously been able to attend university, such as military personnel who are moved so often they can't maintain a program at one physical campus, either rate badly on the conventional measures or are excluded from them.

While an interesting read, there are some problems with the structure of The Idea of the Digital University". The very short chapters are written in a style which reminds me of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (which is also about the nature of education in the USA). The numerous summaries are repetitive (I am sure I read some sentence at least three times). There also appear to be some problems with the Index, referring to incorrect page numbers.

Cut in Federal Funding for Australian Universities

Craig Emerson , Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, announced a $300M cut in annual university funding, in a "Statement on Higher Education", 13 Apr 2013. Also students will no longer receive a 10% discount on university fees for upfront payment and start-up scholarships will be replaced with repayable loans. A Fact Sheet with more details is available. The funding is to be redirected to primary and secondary education.

These cuts are relatively small, but do come at a time when universities are under threat from new technology. We are likely to see 75% of university education move on-line in the next five years. The question is if this will be a move of students from Australian physical campuses to Australian virtual ones,  rather than see 75% of Australian tertiary education disappear overseas. Australian universities need to make a large investment in re-training of staff, re-equipment and reconfiguration of buildings now, to remain competitive. This will be more difficult with fewer funds, although a reduction in funding may provide the rationale the vice-chancellors need to make rapid changes.

MOOCs with Books Talk in Singapore 24 April

I will be giving a free talk on "MOOCs with Books" in Singapore 24 April 2013, hosted by Pearson. Anyone interested in attending, please contact Teck Chuan, Ang at Pearson Singapore. This is a short version of my talk "Syncronisation of Large Scale Asynchronous e-Learning" for the 8th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (ICCSE 2013), 28 April 2013, in Colombo.

MOOCs with Books

Tom Worthington will discuss the implications of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for traditional university education. He will outline why he believes textbooks, in the form of eBooks, will still be key to education, be it on-line or in the classroom. Tom will illustrate this with his own globally accredited on-line course run by Australia's leading university.

1. What is a MOOC?
2. Some MOOC Examples
3. Software and Training for MOOCs
4. Implications for Universities
5. Adapting Traditional Courses for Online Use with books

Tom Worthington is an independent certified computer consultant, and an Adjunct Lecturer in the Research School of Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computer Science at the Australian National University. He teaches ICT sustainability, the design of web sites and use of e-commerce systems. In 1999 Tom was elected a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) for his contribution to the development of public Internet policy and he was Canberra ICT Educator of the Year for 2010. Tom an ACS Past President, Honorary Life Member, Certified Professional and a Certified Computer Professional of the society as well as a voting member of the Association for Computing Machinery and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Australia Supporting Indonesian Tertiary Education with $110M

AusAID are inviting comment on the concept note "Supporting Indonesia’s Tertiary Education" detailing a $110M program for tertiary education in Indonesia, over four years (with a possible four year second phase). The aim is "knowledge-driven growth that is sustainable and equitable for a prosperous Indonesia", by improving tertiary education outcomes and enabling disadvantaged students to complete tertiary education. The "note" is a detailed thirty six page document. It notes Indonesia is a lower-middle income country, the 17th largest economy in the world with GDP per capita of over USD $3,200.

Last year I was invited to speak at Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau in Indonesia, on "Sustainable Development Through Green ICT: The Role of Education and the Business Sector". What I found was a well equipped institution with competent trained staff. There did not seem to be much that Australia, could help them with, in terms of conventional classroom teaching.

The obvious ways to improve tertiary education in Indonesia are much the same as in Australia and elsewhere: teach the staff how to teach, teach them online, teach them how to teach online and teach them how to teach to international professional standards.

Many university staff lack formal education in how to design and deliver courses. Even those who receive some teacher training lack experience with, and training in, on-line courses. University teachers tend to be inducted into a process of ad-hoc creation of courses, rather than a systematic process designed to meet a set of standard skills specified by an international professional standards.

Sending Australian staff to Indonesia to sit in meetings and conduct legacy training courses involving power-point slides would be a waste resources and entrench bad work practices. Instead the Australian government could fund the development of on-line teacher training courses, to do conducted with mixed on-line classes of Australian and Indonesian academics. These courses should be designed in accordance with international professional standards and include rigorous assessment, leading to formal qualifications. This would foster good on-line working habits and also closer cooperation between Australia and Indonesia and also between academics at different Australian institutions.

The Australian Department of Finance is planning a series of short courses on social media for the Australian Public Service ("Proposed online engagement courses for the APS"). Such material could be used to help academics with the transition to on-line teaching. In the longer term online communication skills could be incorporated in graduate courses, as a basic skill for academics.

Australian government could fund the development of policies and systems to encourage institutions to share on-line courses and to allow students to undertake online courses from a range of institutions. This could then be implemented across Australia and Indonesia, allowing both Australian and Indonesian students to include courses from both countries universities in their program.

An example of an online course designed systematically to meet international skills standards, see my "ICT Sustainability" offered through the Australian National University (COMP7310), Open Universities Australia (ACS25) and Athabasca University (COMP 635).

Recognition of Prior Learning for University Teachers

Greetings from the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, where Richard Brawn, Head of the HEA's Teacher Excellence Team, is speaking on "Recognising and Promoting Staff Expertise in Teaching and Learning: the UK experience". The ANU is a subscribing institution of the UK Higher Education Academy (HEA). The HEA has a Professional Standards Framework (PSF) and HEA Fellowship. It should be noted that this is a separate program to the Certified Membership Scheme run by UK Association for Learning Technology (ALT), which was extended to Australia last year.

HEA's process is similar to Recognition to Prior Learning using an e-portfolio for Australian vocation teachers. In terms of positioning the organization, the ANU would see itself similar to the UK University of Cambridge, at least in the field of computing. Richard did not mention Cambridge, but I did a quick search and found a Higher Education Academy Briefing, scheduled for 13 May 2013.

The process, as Richard describes it, also has similarities to the Australian Computer Society's processes for promoting professionalism. It would be interesting to explore coordination between education certification and other professional certifications, including computing.

HEA Fellowships do not replace tertiary qualifications in Higher Education for ANU staff. The ANU Certificate of Higher Education was discontinued, but ANU staff can enroll in a program at another university to obtain tertiary qualifications in Higher Education (I undertook half my GCHE at USQ on-line).

At present I am certified by the ACS as a computer professional, have just finished the current ANU HE Certificate, applied for certification to teach in the vocational sector. If I need to be certified again through a UK based process to teach in a university, the regulatory burden starts to become high. It would be useful if these certifications were aligned. The ACS has achieved such an alignment internationally, through the "Seoul Accord", for IT professionals.

What can make such RPL processes easier is good on-line support. Learning Management Systems, such as Moodle, with  an e-portfolio package, such as Mahara, can be used for this.

On-line Courses for Higher Education Study, Research, Teaching, Leadership and Management Skills

The UK company "Epigeum" provides on-line courses for Higher Education institutions to help students and staff with study, research, teaching, leadership and management skills. They use IMS Content Packages which can be installed in Moodle.

Epigeum was founded in 2005 as a spin-out company from Imperial College London, and our London office is still based close to the College's main campus in Kensington.

These days we offer over 50 online courses – with many more in the pipeline. Our courses are organised into programmes grouped around key skills areas in higher education: studying, researching, teaching, and leadership and management. We are proud to say that tens of thousands of staff and students in over 150 different institutions throughout the world now benefit from our courses. ...

Proposal for Teaching ICT Masters Students How to Teach On-line

This is to request comments on a proposal for incorporating e-learning and ePortfolios in a Master of Computing. Originally I envisaged teaching masters students how to communicate on-line, but have expanded the proposal to also teach them the basics of teaching. The idea is that if you are going to be a "professional" in any field, then you need people skills very much like teaching. So we might as well teach every masters student how to teach. Those who go into academia will then not require the usual short teaching course and those going into industry will be better able to help their staff. Comments on the revised proposal, by 15 February, would be welcome. Background and a summary of the previous comments received is also available. Please note that this work has not been solicited by a university, nor is it an official part of any current university program. It is being undertaken as part of a certificate in higher education.

Learning in the Field

I bumped into Professor William Maher in the coffee shop at University of Canberra and got talking about teaching students outside the classroom. He handed me a copy of his "Learning in the field : a manual for conducting field classes" (HERDSA gold guide, 1323-4021 ; no. 5, by  M. Manning, J. A. Harris, W. A. Maher and K. G. McQueen). What struck me was the similarity between fieldwork and an on-line course. In both cases the class is conducted outside the confines of the classroom and so has to take into account all the vagaries of the real world, or the virtual world. Also the importance of preparation and of post class review and reflection are emphasized. It is a shame this handy little book is not available on-line.

Using an e-Portfolio to Demonstrate Graduate Attributes

The University of New England UNE) "Guidelines for implementation of the Graduate
Attributes Policy and Quality Management processes" (June 2009), include the option of presentation of evidence via a personal ePortfolio. UNE reference UNSW's "Assessing with ePortfolios" and offer students the Mahara e-Portfolio tool.

Assessing with ePortfolios

The University of NSW (UNSW) provides a useful set of guidelines on "Assessing with ePortfolios" (3 May 2012). ePortfolios are suggested to "support students in planning their personal, educational and career development", "present evidence of achieving program outcomes through artifacts that demonstrate transferable skills"and "in capstone courses and programs that require professional accreditation". UNSW provide a useful list of issues to consider with ePortfolios and further readings. UNSW have installed the Mahara e-portfolio tool (as used by ACS and USQ).