Game based learning and academic integrity
Personal digital connectivity is a unique phenomenon of the second decade of the 21st century, and has been recognised as a new information domain, or ‘infosphere, in order to capture the constituent informational agents, processes and relations as the key elements of the current complex digital information environment (Floridi, 2007, p.59). Such online information environments and associated transactions are considered an important information ecosystem (Haythornthwaite,& Andrews, 2011) changing the fundamental aspects of how people connect, interact, share and work in this new networking culture (Costa, 2011, p.81), influencing and shaping professional engagement and digital scholarship in communities of learning in the higher education sector (Lee, McLoughlin & Chan, 2008). New models of information storage, information distribution and information consumption, particularly with the emergence of Web 2.0, mobile access and cloud systems, have resulted in continued research into new approaches to information access and models of learning engagement. In this context, the need to shape subject experiences to reflect and leverage this digital information ecosystem is a constantly changing issue of digital literacy and communities of practice. In a context of adaptive and responsive co-construction of knowledge, we can facilitate a viable praxis in digital environments. By creating curriculum and subject delivery which can be reshaped and reconstructed in a dynamic manner, using the affordances of online tools and social scholarship, we have the opportunity to work with information in the construction of knowledge in more dynamic ways, connecting learning experiences across the contexts of location, time, devices and social media platforms. Ng (2012) supports digital literacy as having three intersecting dimensions that are the (i) technical (ii) cognitive and (iii) social-emotional dimensions of digital literacy. These three dimensions are often disjoined or artificially corralled into static fields such as forum discussions, therefore lacking extensible experiences to connect each dimension. The challenge is discovering how to leverage formal learning environments, coupled with the savvy social media engagement, to foster the construction of an effective digital identify, communicate using diverse media, produce (not just consume knowledge) and collaborate and catalyse participation in knowledge construction. Curiously, when it comes to the integration of the internet and social media into scholar’s contemporary work practices, investigation of ethical issues remains largely underexplored (Moore & Ellsworth, 2014).
This presentation discusses an approach to our academic programs which has considered why they should be designed to enhance personal professional networks and personal learning conversations, understanding that learning is social within Communities of Practice where learning happens through experience and practice as part of a community (Leiberman & Mace, 2009). For students and scholars who embrace responsive and proactive integration of digital and social scholarship practices to all aspects of curriculum engagement, the challenges are many in adopting social-mediated methods of inquiry to develop the connective capacity to learn and teach successfully in the full dimensions of the ‘infosphere’. How can we move forward successfully and transform learning in higher education?
Costa, Cristina (2011) Educational networking in the digital age. In: Digital Education: Opportunities for Social Collaboration. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 81-99. ISBN 978-0-230-11158-5
Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23(1), 59–64. http://doi.org/10.1080/01972240601059094
Haythornthwaite, C., & Andrews, R. (2011). E-learning theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Lee, M. J., McLoughlin, C., & Chan, A. (2008). Talk the talk: Learner‐generated podcasts as catalysts for knowledge creation. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(3), 501-521.
Lieberman, A., & Mace, D. P. (2010). Making practice public: Teacher learning in the 21st century. Journal of Teacher Education , 61 (1-2), 77–88. doi:10.1177/0022487109347319
| Period | 17 Nov 2015 |
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| Event type | Conference |
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| Location | Albury-Wodonga, Australia, New South WalesShow on map |
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| Degree of Recognition | National |
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