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FEBRUARY 2011
The power of role-based e-learning offers a careful analysis of the strengths and learning opportunities of online role play, and is realistic about the difficulties. Providing guidance for both newcomers and experienced professionals who are developing their online teaching repertoire, it will be an invaluable resource for teachers, trainers, academics, and educational support staff involved in e-learning. It will be useful in staff development and continuing professional development (CPD) contexts.
FEBRUARY 2010
OCTOBER 2009EnROLE write up in ALTC's magazine Communique
ALCT Communique
JULY 2009
Role Play Spotters at HERDSA 2009 A small team of academics from the University of Sydney's cluster of Project EnRoLE initiated an interesting activity at the HERDSA 2009 conference in Darwin. Using a poster presentation to anchor the activity, and wearing distinctive glasses to identify themselves as 'spotters', they undertook a review of learning designs from a learner role perspective. After some lively discussion and debate about the findings they had mapped on their spotter sheets, the team shared their insights with others at a showcase presentation on the final day of the conference, noting that.
MAY 2009EnROLE Masked Ball News Coverage Our Masked Ball was a great success and garnered new coverage in the Illawarra Mercury and the University of Wollongong Website.
MARCH 2009
Our Masked Ball will showcase numerous online role plays and
unmask the academics who designed them from a range of discipline
areas such as:
FEBRUARY 2009EnRoLE Community EDNA, ALTC Exchange & SCOPE We have begun the process of rationalising our group areas which have been spread around the web. During February the individual cluster groups in the ALTC Exchange were collapsed into one single EnRoLE Australia group. To access the group site you will need to log on to http://www.altcexchange.edu.au/. You will be pleased to know that the log on process is now a single sign on procedure. Our EdNA group will also be collapsed by the end of February. This move to a single community space on ALTC Exchange is seen as a way of concentrating our efforts and hedging the chances of effective communication between members. If you would like to know more about EnRoLE please email us at EnRoLE Australia enrole.australia@gmail.com. The recent South Australian EnRoLE Network workshop was well received by participants who commented that they felt inspired as a result of the day. Participants worked collaboratively to develop scenarios around areas of common interest. Log on to the SCOPE network to see these scenarios and join in discussion about designing online role play http://www.scopenetwork.org.au. Huge thanks to Judi Baron and her team for organising and hosting this event. We look forward to seeing more role plays develop through the South Australian Network. The Dental Amalgam eSim, an online role-play simulation developed at the University of Adelaide in collaboration with the University of Sharjah, UAE, has been included in a chapter 'Health Sciences Case Study' in a soon to be released book Cases'n Places: Global Cases in Educational and Performance Technology, Information Age Publishing. The authors are Judi Baron, Lesley Steele, Sausan Al Kawas. Best wishes for the success of your publication. Jane Warland is a lecturer in nursing and midwifery at the University of South Australia. She and two other lecturers, (Dr Colleen Smith and Ms Morgan Smith) are interested in situated learning and have been active in the South Australian SCOPE network. In 2008 they won a small teaching and learning grant from the Division of health sciences to develop an online role play in an undergraduate 1st year nursing course. The role-play concerns the nurses' response to an Avian flu outbreak in a rural hospital. The role-play will be piloted in study period 5 (2nd semester). EnRoLE@SA has been active in supporting the team in their project. If you would like to find out more about the project you can contact Dr Jane Warland, Lecturer School of Nursing and Midwifery University of South Australia jane.warland@unisa.edu.au. Margaret Baron, Lecturer in Justice Studies at TAFESA and experienced online role play designer, has also received an innovations grant to develop a new role play. We look forward to following Margaret's progress over the coming months.
OCTOBER 2008
SEPTEMBER 2008Opportunities to publish about online role play Over the past 18 months there have been many exciting developments in the field of online role play. Existing role plays have been opened up to new players, new role plays have been developed and others are in the pipeline. In the spirit of the scholarship of teaching and learning, EnRoLE members are encouraged to reflect on their work in the field of online role play and to disseminate the lessons learnt through professional development workshops and academic publication. A number of writing collaborations were established at the Writing for Publications Workshop held at University of Sydney in June this year. There are a number of opportunities for publication on online role play coming up in the near future and so it is now timely to progress these ideas into articles. As always, the deadlines for submissions are tight but not impossible.
The reality at present is that many journals have pre-arranged issues for the next 12 to 18 months making it difficult to gain acceptance for timely publication, particularly in international journals within the next 2 years. Those who are sucessful in being accepted often lack impact because their work is diluted by being isolated in the field. However, through the EnRoLE network, opportunity exists for publishing on online role play in the near future in amongst other themes related to the field. A critical mass of pubication in the field will assist in legitimising our work, bringing it forward for mainstream consideration.
Please contact Dr. Elyssebeth Leigh, EnRoLE Publications Coordinator, if you have ideas or enquiries about publishing opportunities. Her email links are elyssebeth.leigh@uts.edu.au or elyssebeth@gmail.com, and mobile is 0412713060. Collaboration in Teaching and Learning Tankette
Participate in an open conversation about collaboration in teaching and learning (CTL), online from 3 October 2008 to 14 November 2008
at: Role playing for inclusive education Have you considered using an online role play to help people appreciate the multiple perspectives that are essential elements of inclusive education? With the advent of the Disability Standards for Education (2005), Australian educational institutions are obliged to comply with a clear set of guidelines for professional practice. These relate to enrolment; participation; curriculum development, accreditation and delivery; student support services; and the elimination of harassment and victimisation. Making these situations "real" to trainee teachers can be facilitated by presenting them with a series of problematic scenarios and inviting them to adopt the role of parents, teachers, principals, teaching assistants and others. �Include a dude� by Dr Chris Kilham, University of Canberra, is one such online role play that received positive endorsements from students in its first trial this year, and has been included in the EnRoLE National Repository of online role-based learning. The development of 'Include a dude' demonstrates the success of Project EnRoLE in disseminating practice in online role play. Dr Kilham was inspired to develop her role play after participating in a workshop as part of the Role Play stream at ASCILITE 2007. Judi Baron and Ann Davenport of the University of Adelaide presented the workshop in which participants took part in an online role play dealing with issues around plagiarism in universities. An overview of the Plagiarism e-Sim is available in the EnRoLE Repository. Follow the Community link on this site for access to the descriptions of online role plays.
AUGUST 2008Facilitation Skills for Online Role Play Activities (University of Technology Sydney) In this workshop participants explored some of the implications of online learning on the role of the teacher/educator. Learning to interact with learners whom we may never meet requires a re-think of many elements of our 'performance' as educators. The workshop explored how we understand ourselves as educational'performers' ('teacher', 'facilitator', etc) and skills that might assist educators to perform these roles. There was a wide range of questions arising from the workshop which will be explored further in the EnRoLE community space on the ALTC Exchange Prof Sandra Wills ALTC Citation Our Project Leader, Professor Sandra Wills, was formally recognized for her sustained contribution to e-Learning. Sandra received an Australian Learning and Teaching Council citation for 'strategic leadership to ensure learning technologies promote active, collaborative and global student learning'. Sandra's boundless enthusiasm for and commitment to e-Learning has been an asset to EnRoLE. Congratulations Sandra! The full list of citations is available on the Australian Learning and Teaching Council website.
JUNE 2008Writing for Publication Workshop (University of Sydney) In this workshop participants discussed practical strategies for, and approaches to, writing and communicating about role-based innovation in teaching and learning. Topics addressed included engaging with the scholarship of teaching and learning; writing for a higher education audience; and planning and structuring your paper. The workshop was facilitated by Dr Christine Asmar, who is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Teaching and Learning. In addition to her research on issues of cultural difference in higher education, Christine has also worked on the scholarship of teaching and learning, and on research-led teaching (including how to research your own teaching). Establishing Role Play Partnerships (University of Wollongong) In order to promote critical dialogue about effective design of collaborative online and blended role based activities, the first half of the workshop profiled four case studies of role play partnerships. These case studies provided participants with ideas for designing their own role play and also made explicit the opportunities and obstacles involved in sustained partnerships. In the second half of the day, the partners involved in the four case studies, plus potential new partners, developed strategies for extending their partnerships and making them more resilient into the future. This was a enlightening and rewarding workshop which stimulated professional exchange around online role based learning.
Designing Online Role Play Activities (University of New South Wales) Participants explored the dynamics of online and blended role play and distilled design principles. Roni Linser and Albert Ip presented the design framework developed by Fablusi, as well as exploring a range of issues pertinent to the design and delivery of online role plays. Participants formed Design Teams to begin designing an online role play for their specific context. Collaboration across universities in the design of several online role play activities, including Project Management and Equity, was a valued outcome of the workshop.
MAY 2008Journalism students make their own "news" Journalism students at Charles Sturt University participated in the long-running multi-institution Middle Eastern Politics Simulation, originally designed by Andrew Vincent and John Shepherd, and produced their own version of The Guardian newspaper as a reflection of their engagement in the role play. EnRoLE NSW Fellowship initiative The NSW Network of EnRoLE launched a Fellowship initiative through which participants work to develop a network of supportive critical friends to assist in the ongoing development of effective teaching/learning practices in online role-based learning. We warmly welcome our inaugural fellows to the EnRoLE community of practice and look forward to hearing about their work in the field. Over time we hope to offer Fellowships in other states to build up a community of academics, academic developers, designers and technologists who will represent an internationally significant resource in the field of e-Learning and blended learning. Fellows are invited to profile their work in online role-based learning through the EnRoLE group area in the ALTC exchange at http://www.carrickexchange.edu.au
APRIL 2008EnRoLE community mourn passing of Andrew Vincent Dr Andrew Vincent of Macquarie University, pioneer role play designer (Middle Eastern Politics Simulation), died on Saturday April 5th in Beirut. We will all miss his fascinating insights on the Middle East and his contributions to the EnRoLE project team. It was Andrew who started most of us on the role play journey and it was Andrew who suggested we apply for a Carrick grant. His spirit and knowledge will hopefully live on in the continuing use of online role-play as a learning medium. Andrew's MEPS role-play was the seminal work in online role-play in Australia. It first ran almost 20 years ago, and has since been used in universities world-wide. It is a testament to its effectiveness that past students from Andrew's courses (even back to the early 1990's) can still recall the powerful learning experience provided by MEPS. It is a fitting academic honour that MEPS is Andrew's memorial.
FEBRUARY 2008
A Dental Amalgam eSim has been developed by the School of
Dentistry and Centre for Learning and Professional Development,
University of Adelaide using Blackboard LMS and 110 second year
students of Sharjah's College of Dentistry and are presently
considering the pros and cons of the use of amalgam for restorative
purposes over a three week period ...
DECEMBER 2007EnRoLE has a strong presence at the ASCILITE Conference in Singapore this month. The University of Adelaide will run a pre-conference workshop exploring the implications of online role play. In addition, EnRoLE network members will present a stream of papers dedicated to Online Role Play. Best wishes to all presenters and participants. Congratulations to EnRoLE network members representing and informing the online role play community.
Workshop:
SEPTEMBER 2007NSW Project EnRole September Update This last quarter has been a busy time for Project EnRoLE in NSW ...
AUGUST 2007
Project EnRoLE has launched a community space on edna groups to facilitiate communication among
University Clusters and across the EnRoLE International Network. To contact network members, participate in
community discussions and access EnRoLE resources, you need to first register as an edna groups member at
www.groups.edna.edu.au.
Following on from the successful seminar program in semester 1, EnRoLE@USyd will host a
series of events throughout semester 2. The first event in this series, Engaging learners
through role-based learning activities, will be held on August 16th from 2.30 - 4pm. In this seminar Elizabeth Rosser, UNSW, will profile the use of blended role-play simulation as a tool for engaging students in the foundation stage of university education.
EnRoLE NSW Network Professional Development Event The NSW network is hosting an online professional development workshop to assist academics and educational developers to gain insight into educational online role-play. It will be particularly beneficial for academics and educational developers seeking an orientation to role-based learning techniques.
Conducted over a 5 week period from Monday 13th August to Tuesday 11th September this workshop will:
Contact Elizabeth Rosser if you would like to register for this event e.rosser@unsw.edu.au ASCILITE Conference - Extension The deadline for proposals for the ASCILITE conference has been extended until August 20th. See the ASCILITE website for further details. http://www.ascilite.org
SimTecT 2008 will be held in Melbourne from Monday 12 -
Thursday 15 May, 2008. The theme is Simulation - Maximising Organisational Benefits.
JULY 2007
SCOPE, a community of practice around situational learning hosted by the University of Adelaide, held their launch in July. SCoPE and EnRoLE have formed a mutually supportive partnership in
advancing the use of role play in online learning environments within the context of higher education. We are privileged to
have Holger Maier, Judy Baron and Anne Davenport of the University of Adelaide onboard to lead the development of the South
Australian EnRoLE Network. Through EnRoLE, they will share their expertise and passion for situational learning and online
role-play to enrich connections among academics involved in this field. We warmly welcome EnRoLE@Adelaide to the EnRoLE
community and wish them the best of success in their work.
Through the involvement of Claire Brooks in our EnRoLE community, the project team was invited to profile Project EnRoLE at the annual METTLE Conference at the University of Melbourne in July. We were privileged to see the work of some dedicated and talented academics.
Project EnRoLE in Campus Review
JUNE 2007University of Sydney Cluster launched
Friday June 1st 2pm University of Sydney Cluster launched by Prof Keith Trigwell, Director, Institute of Teaching & Learning
MAY 2007Role Play Repository added to EnRoLE site under "Community" section.
APRIL 2007
Announcing a special online role play stream at the ascilite 2007 conference in Singapore in December: Mekong eSim seminar (University of Wollongong) Thursday April 12th A/Prof Holger Maier, University of Adelaide, Mekong eSim seminar at University of Wollongong
MARCH 2007Macquarie University Cluster launched
Friday March 30th 1pm Macquarie University Cluster launched by Deputy Vice Chancellor (Provost) Prof Judyth Sachs
JANUARY 2007SimTecT 2007 is the annual simulations industry conference, and will be held in Brisbane this year (June 4- 7). Project EnRoLE team member, Elyssebeth Leigh, chairs the papers committee and is currently managing the receipt and refereeing of more than 120 papers. The focus this year is on "Simulation - Improving Capability and Competitiveness" and the opportunities that simulation provides to understand and improve the way we operate now, and into the future. It encompasses the use of simulation for experimentation and analysis, concept and capability development, system design refinement and validation, process and systems modelling, and in the training of users. Role play in military, industrial and workplace learning contexts is a way of life for those who design, build and teach via the amazing array of technologies that are usually on display at SimTecT conferences.
DECEMBER 2006Pain Management Roundtable seminar Tuesday December 12th Liz Devonshire, University of Sydney, Pain Management Roundtable seminar at University of Wollongong Pioneer role play designer, Dr Andrew Vincent, Macquarie University, has been making front page news with controversy over his Middle East Politics role play. Accused of training terrorists, this role play has been banned from use in NSW schools. Read all about it:
and follow these links to Albert Ip's blog in defence of Andrew Vincent:
NOVEMBER 2006Assoc Prof Holger Maier Carrick Teaching Award Assoc Prof Holger Maier, University of Adelaide, has won a 2006 National Teaching Award. Holger is one of the co-authors of the award-winning Mekong eSim. Earlier in the year Holger received a Carrick Citation for his teaching. He has also won an Excellence in Engineering Education Award
Links
OCTOBER 2006University of New South Wales Cluster Launch Presentations by Prof Sandra Wills, UOW; Sean Brawley, History, UNSW; Dr Andrew Vincent, Mq Uni & Dr John Shepherd, UNSW Middle Eastern Politics Simulation Role Play seminar (University of Wollongong) Friday October 27th Dr Andrew Vincent,& Dr Sally Totman, Mq Uni, Dr John Shepherd, UNSW, Middle Eastern Politics Simulation Role Play seminar at University of Wollongong
SEPTEMBER 2006Dr John McWilliams Carrick Citation Dr John McWilliams, Deakin University, received a 2006 Carrick Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning. John has for many years run an intensive blended role play as part of his MBA residential.
Links
AUGUST 2006University of Wollongong Cluster launched Friday August 11th, University of Wollongong Cluster launched with Cuban Missile Crisis Simulation seminar by Dr David Sadler, Director of Networks, Higher Education Academy, UK
2005Albert Ip and Roni Linser, formerly of The University of Melbourne, have sold their Fablusi role play engine to the US Army. Over 300 officers are using the role play at any one time and 1000 overall in a year.
Links
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EnROLE team members Elyssebeth Leigh, Sandra Wills and Albert Ip are proud to announce the birth of their long-awaited book on role-based e-learning,
published internationally by Routledge as part of their Connected with e-Learning series. With practical, accessible advice, The power of role-based e-learning reviews practice and research in online role play. Drawing on the experiences of world-leading practitioners in Australia and citing an array of worldwide examples, it is a readable, non-technical and comprehensive book, informed by practice. Topics covered include defining games, simulations and role plays; designing effective online role plays; moderating engaging and authentic role-based e-learning activities; assessment and evaluation.
