This paper reports on continuing professional development (CPD) innovations in an Australian university to address challenges commonly faced by sessional academics teaching progressively diverse student cohorts. With the impact of Widening Participation (WP) policy increasing university participation of students in recognised equity groups,…

This article outlines the rationale for, and development of an online support system (OSS) for teachers of mathematics in regional, rural and remote (RRR) Australia as part of an ongoing longitudinal project, "Regional Teachers of Mathematics Networks" (RTMN). The OSS is designed to assist development of interconnected collaborative…

This case study describes a project designed by university museum curators, managers and educators working in collaboration with curriculum designers to elicit new uses for university museum collection objects in the delivery of tertiary, secondary and primary education programs. It involves an object-based learning community of practice…

This study explores the impact of a government-funded program which sought to retrain in-service teachers in regional Queensland as Indonesian language teachers through an Australian university-led program with on-campus and in-country components. The study first examines how the Indonesian for Teachers Initiative (InTI) program's diverse social…

This paper examines the concept of learning communities as defined in the literature. An existing case study is described, and the issues that facilitated and constrained the development of this learning community are considered and discussed. Strategies to address threats to the ongoing viability and usefulness of a learning community to support…

This research is an exploratory study that evaluates the affordances of WeChat for the development of a community of inquiry (CoI) in semi-synchronous language exchange supported by WeChat. WeChat is an instant messenger that facilitates a multimodal environment in which interaction can happen synchronously, semi-synchronously and asynchronously…

This paper describes a strategy, designed by a faculty of education in a regional Australian university, to induct pre-service educators into the education profession. It then focuses on one component of the strategy, an initiative called Education Commons. This initiative uses a model of critical reflection to engage pre-service educators in…

MindMatters, implemented by Principals Australia Institute, is a resource and professional development initiative supporting Australian secondary schools in promoting and protecting the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of members of school communities, preferring a proactive paradigm (Covey, 1989) to the position of "disaster…

Teacher education in universities is under pressure. In many new education policies there is a renewed focus on teacher quality, and therefore quality initial teacher education. In some countries this renewed focus has led to a resurgence of "alternative approaches" to teacher education such as Teach for America / Australia. One of the…

Mobile learning is a relatively new phenomenon and the theoretical basis is currently under development. The paper presents a pedagogical perspective of mobile learning which highlights three central features of mobile learning: authenticity, collaboration and personalisation, embedded in the unique timespace contexts of mobile learning. A…

It is widely accepted that professional experience or practicum is "a critically important part of teacher education courses and is consistently valued highly by student teachers" (eg Ramsey, 2000; Teaching Australia, 2006; Parliament of Australia, 2007). In Australia and overseas there is a growing emphasis on teacher educators working…

In 2007-8 the Australian Catholic University (ACU National), undertook a project to develop new resources to provide training and support in eLearning for staff and students. The project was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team drawn from all six campuses and was led by an externally contracted Project Manager/eLearning specialist. This…

Connected learning using video conferencing, the interactive whiteboard and Web 2.0 tools is possible in the new "interactive classroom" more than 2,240 New South Wales public schools will receive over the next four years. In Australia the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (NSWDET) is delivering $AUS 158 million of…

There exists a wealth of computing education literature devoted to interventions designed to overcome novices' difficulties in learning to write computer programs. However, various studies have shown that the majority of students at the end of a semester of instruction are still unable to write a simple computer program, despite the best efforts…

Purpose: This paper aims to: extend the concept of "The learning organization" to "The learning community," especially disadvantaged communities; demonstrate how leaders in a migrant community can achieve positive change at the personal, professional, team and community learning levels through participatory action learning and…