I visited Griffith University today. I didn’t leave disappointed. First stop was Logan Campus to run a Technology, Feedback, Action! workshop. 17 or 18 people participated including academic, blending learning officers, curriculum consultants and students. It was well received, with comments like ‘it’s refreshing’, ‘it’s great that the students’ voice is heard’, and a sneak peak at the session evaluation forms looked favourable. I then spent some time talking with blended learning officers and curriculum consultants. Their support model includes centralised support within Griffith Institute for Higher Education and blended learning officers and curriculum consultants in each group (faculty) to provide just-in-time support. Despite being group-based, the blended learning officers report centrally via the Deans of Learning and Teaching and PVC for Learning and Teaching, and regularly to the Learning Environment Committee (I suppose the equivalent will be a group of FD staff) so that the blended learning officers are aware of broader university goals and the Learning Environment Committee understand what a blended learning officer do on a daily basis and the challenges they face, or hear from academic staff. I thought that was a useful channel of communication. They also have an equivalent of our Bb Ops Team meetings but they only take place every 6-8 weeks.
Griffith hold an annual 'Excellence in Teaching Week' in October/November during which a black-tie Teaching Citation Awards dinner is held. Part of this is a blended-learning symposium showcasing examples of Blackboard innovations from each of the groups (faculties). All sessions are professionally recorded (the three-camera stuff). (Stupot thinks - ideas for the next round of show'n'shares!).
I was then taken on a tour of the Logan Campus. It is a fairly new campus in Griffith’s portfolio and feels quite rural. It is a very small campus with little outside infrastructure (shops and services etc), and until only recently they had cows and calves in the fields nearby.
Following this I was taken for a 30 min car journey down the Pacific Highway and Gold Coast Highway to my next stop: the Gold Coast Campus. Griffith are investing heavily in this campus, including the building of a new teaching hospital. I was shown the library with its innovative learning spaces and fairly laid back feel – students sprawled on sofas and beanbags with laptops or watching DVDs, or completing group tasks together in pods. There is an immense feeling of space, light and colour, even on the first floor where books are housed. I was shown other parts of the campus, including the numerous learning spaces where there are dedicated desktop PC areas, lecture theatres where they appear designed with personal space and legroom in mind and aesthetically pleasing buildings. They are certainly making the use of their envious location of a university situated on the Gold Coast. It left me in awe.
Just one of many Gold Coast Campus learning centres:
sounds great Stuart - glad you are enjoying it - sounds like you got a lot out of the visit - look forward to discussing it with you further when you get back.
ReplyDelete