How do we approach online learning at USQ?

Recently USQ International invited TechDem leaders to put together a 3-hour workshop to share with the Hang Chu University College of Communication, Malaysia. About 45 HCUC participants participated and many shared their ideas for online learning. As a university that has more recently engaged in online learning as a result of COVID lockdowns they were keen to find out what makes USQ successful with online learning.

We were charged with sharing how we approach, design and evaluate online learning. This is a key theme of Technology Demonstrators and Academic Transformation Portfolio work.

The workshop was designed to be interactive, collaborative and of course informative. It was designed to revolve around the four pillars or key elements influencing our approach to online learning: Tools, Pedagogy, Evaluation and Research. We call this the essential USQ Toolkit informing student engagement and online learning.

Session 1: RESEARCH – Exploring online student engagement

Dr Julie Lindsay explored the research around and definition of online student engagement and the connection with learning modes.

Session 2: PEDAGOGY – Creating the HyFlex classroom

Dr Julie Lindsay shared online learning design strategies for student engagement including digital technologies for creating a HyFlex classroom.

Session 3: EVALUATION – The student experience

Learning and Teaching Assistant and PhD student Katrina Cutcliffe explored how student engagement is measured and evaluated and what we need to develop and design initiatives.

Session 4: TOOLS – Personalising educational video for engagement

Digital Learning Audio/Video leader Lachlan Mears shared how to foster student engagement through the use of video and teacher presence. This master class showed explicitly how to create a professional looking video using Adobe Premiere Rush.

Further resources

Share the artefacts from this workshop via the TechDem Smore Newsletter.

Review the Padlet and Slides.

Julie Lindsay