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Online teaching - responding to and supporting change through staff development

Margaret Hicks
Betty Leask
Flexible Learning Centre,
University of South Australia


Academic teaching staff in institutions of higher education are under increasing pressure from both management and students to use information and communication technologies in their teaching. This raises a number of issues for those involved in staff development. There is a need to provide technical support. There is also a need to focus staff attention on the pedagogical implications of the opportunities provided by the use of technology and the world wide web in teaching. Academic staff faced with a rapidly changing teaching and learning environment must make a complex set of decisions if they are to use technology effectively and efficiently to assist students to engage with course content and achieve course outcomes. Achieving an appropriate balance of technical and professional support which enables staff to use the new technologies for the benefit of students in a large institution is both complex and demanding.

This paper describes some tools, strategies and processes whereby the University of South Australia is striving to provide a flexible and student centred online learning environment supported by appropriate professional development of staff. UniSAnet provides academic staff and students with an additional, online dimension to the University's existing teaching and learning program. It is a coordinated online teaching and learning facility, which has the capacity to enhance the quality of learning experiences in both virtual and conventional classrooms. The paper describes the professional development program which supports UniSAnet with reference to a number of case studies from a range of disciplines.

Contact person: Margaret Hicks. Email: margaret.hicks@unisa.edu.au
Voice: +61(0)8 8302 2134 Fax: +61(0)8 8302 2363

Please cite as: Hicks, M. and Leask, B. (2000). Online teaching - responding to and supporting change through staff development. In Flexible Learning for a Flexible Society, Proceedings of ASET-HERDSA 2000 Conference. Toowoomba, Qld, 2-5 July. ASET and HERDSA. http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/gen/aset/confs/aset-herdsa2000/abstracts/hicks-abs.html


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Created 13 June 2000. Last revised: 13 June 2000. HTML: Roger Atkinson [atkinson@cleo.murdoch.edu.au]
This URL: http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/gen/aset/confs/aset-herdsa2000/abstracts/hicks-abs.html