Charles Darwin University is the only university in Northern Territory, multi-campus, offer mobile learning labs in trucks, HE >7,000 students and VET >14,000. This presentation focussed on the journey the university took towards ‘fleximode’ delivery. A feature of NT is the lack of broadband infrastructure.
Martin Carroll, PVC Learning, Teaching & Community Engagement, claimed the approach to ‘fleximode’ focuses on engagement rather than delivery models. Students are able to engage with learning resources and assessment activities using the means that best suit them, therefore learning resources and assessment activities must be designed in multiple modes. It does not mean anything goes – it must be pedagogically driven and that’s where Bb comes in. He talked a bit about their approach to Blackboard uptake, and the staff development which was funded by a AUD$ 3m government grant, match-funded by CDU and extra funding by Blackboard. However uptake stagnated and in fact the number of courses supported dropped when they moved to Bb9 due to a number of problems, but apparently they are winning staff back during the user testing in advance to the move to 9.1 in November.
He then really went on to preach to the converted about the benefits of online provision and at-elbow support models. However, what was interesting is that they are using the Bb Outcomes system as a means for managing the entire internal unit and course accreditation workflow, in particular for the common standards and graduate attributes being rolled out across Australia. CDU are looking for benchmarking partners, esp. training and support processes and use of Outcomes to assess graduate attribute uptake.
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