Guest:

Dr Lisa Jacka is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Southern Queensland. She has over 20 years of experience in Higher Education at USQ, SCU, JCU and UNE. She is an innovator in online education, with a focus on engaging learners through the integration of emerging technologies in Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education. 

Episode Summary

Julie Lindsay and Jim Harris begin Episode 2 by discussing the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) organization and its role in UK higher education, including providing a nationwide internet service and negotiating for resources like e-books. They introduce their guest, Lisa Jacka from UNISQ (University of Southern Queensland), who was involved in the JISC Beyond Blended pilot.

Lisa shares her experience attending the in-person London workshop as the only participant from outside the UK and Ireland, noting the similarities between the UK and Australian higher education experiences. The hosts and guest explore the challenge of inconsistent terminology, noting that terms like “HyFlex” and “asynchronous in place” must be adapted to local contexts. The conversation highlights that the JISC resources were intentionally designed to be flexible, adaptable, and a basis for conversation rather than prescriptive mandates. Lisa details her research on active asynchronous learning, emphasizing the need for students to interact and “do stuff” rather than merely consuming content, citing technologies like Voicethread. Jim introduces the concept of CAVEs (“colleagues against virtually everything”) as a form of resistance that stifles opportunities for students to learn digital skills. The episode concludes with a look ahead at future goals, including embedding the Beyond Blended resources into institutional storyboarding activities and linking them to staff professional recognition frameworks like the UK PSF.

Tune in as Julie, Jim and Lisa explore:

• The function of JISC in the UK, including supporting universities with nationwide internet service and negotiating consistent publisher access to e-books.
• The nature of the JISC Beyond Blended resources as live and intended to be adapted, built upon, and added to within an institution’s specific context.
• The definition of HyFlex as a workload- and resource-intensive approach where an academic facilitates a live audience both online and in class simultaneously, striving for equitable experience.
• The importance of consistent terminology, contrasting “distance learning” (historically involving mailed resources) with “online learning,” and noting that institutional adaptation of terms is crucial.
• The effectiveness of action learning sets within the pilot for staff to share experiences and receive support without judgment (“I’ve tried this, this isn’t working”).
• Lisa Jacka’s research on active asynchronous learning, which demands that activities are designed for student interaction, using tools like Voicethread to foster relationships and engagement.
• The use of Gilly Salmon’s E-tivity template as a way to help staff move beyond simply sharing resources (like PowerPoints) to designing purposeful, constructively aligned learning tasks.
• The idea that the academic’s mindset and integration of the design process are key to student uptake of new technologies; simply providing the tool (like Voicethread) is not enough.
• The challenge of resistance from “CAVEs” (colleagues against virtually everything) who cite issues like “cognitive overload” to avoid leveraging available technologies like Padlet.
• Future goals for the pilot, including embedding the Beyond Blended resources into storyboarding activities and integrating them into the UK PSF (UK Professional Standards Framework) for academic recognition.
• The utility of AI bots (e.g., Beyond Blended Buddy or HyFlex Helper) in providing support to academics, helping them move quicker past the initial stage of understanding concepts like HyFlex and blended learning.