Ramiz Ali

Over the past two years, educators, AI experts, and university leaders have come together in countless webinars, seminars, workshops, panel discussions, and conferences to explore the potential effects of AI on education. A large portion of these efforts has focused on the risks to academic and research integrity and how we might navigate them. Like many enthusiasts of digital technology and pedagogy, I joined numerous discussions and events to understand these issues better. It was heartening to see the genuine care we collectively hold for learning and teaching. Through these discussions, we’ve indeed addressed the elephant in the room. But have we truly taken the next steps? I’m not convinced!

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A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of facilitating a professional learning workshop on group assessment design for a group of academics at the University of Wollongong. It was inspiring to see how passionate and enthusiastic our educators are about enhancing student learning, particularly in the design and implementation of assessments. Our discussion couldn’t have been more timely, given the growing concerns about GenAI’s impact on academic integrity and the validity of the assessments. The insights shared by these dedicated individuals have inspired me to write this post.

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Imagine that you came across a massive sale at a shopping centre and feeling excited to buy a pair of shoes from a footwear shop. However, upon entering, you realise that the shop offers only one type, one colour, and one size of shoes. There is no way to choose a pair based on your age, foot shape, size, design, colour preferences, or gender. How does this sound to you? Does it sound like a desirable or bad experience? Also, do you think this scenario is comparable to the educational practice of designing learning experiences for the mythical average learner?

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Many years ago, I was an eighteen-years-old preservice teacher – one of the many young women and men who were striving to lay their first foundation of learning and teaching. Yes, I am referring to my primary teacher training course where I learned the fundamentals of learning science. It was a life-changing experience in many ways, and indeed, a solid foundation for me to become who I am today. For that, I am eternally grateful to all my amazing educators. They helped me understand what it means to become a teacher, learning designer, and educator. Now, I’m no longer that skinny young boy. Neither am I a novice teacher who constantly thinks about how to engage his 10-12-year-old students in his classes. Over the years, I have been fortunate to gain much new knowledge and experience which have changed how I think about learning and teaching today. One such aspect is learning styles.

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I recently came across this intriguing quote: ‘Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.’ As I first read it, I sort of fell in love with it, and it made me reflect on my beliefs and practices of teaching and learning. I searched the internet found that the quote is often attributed to the famous Irish poet and Nobel Prize winner, William Butler Yeats. But I asked myself: what does it really mean? How does it relate to how we teach and learn today?

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Have you ever stopped to think about what makes an assessment truly effective? What are the obstacles to creating a good assessment, and how can we overcome them? We’ve all been through assessments in school and university, and they’ve been a part of education for as long as anyone can remember. But the way we perceive assessments has changed, and here’s the twist – assessments aren’t just about passing or failing anymore. There’s a cool kid on the block, and they are changing the game. Let’s dive into the think tank and explore more about assessments.

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Transformation of higher education is an intricate issue. Universities are service organisations with complex hierarchical structures, as well as numerous internal and external policies and regulations to adhere to. Consequently, diffusion of innovations at the institutional level is often challenging for university leaders. Nonetheless, globalisation and changing student needs, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, are compelling universities to reassess their strategies for diffusion of innovations and digital transformation. The critical question that arises is, how digital technologies can be harnessed to transform higher education and align with the primary functions of universities: teaching and research. The mentioned below are some of the key areas to focus. 

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Personalised learning is a pedagogical approach that focuses on meeting the unique needs, strengths, backgrounds, and learning aspirations of individual learners in the process of designing and delivering instruction. A key concept of personalised learning is placing the learner at the centre of instruction and giving them the freedom to choose and control their learning process and experience.

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