Awards

The prestigious ODLAA awards for excellent practice and excellent research in open, distance and flexible learning are offered in conjunction with each ODLAA Conference. A total of eight awards are available within the two major categories but are not always presented, depending on the quanitity and quality of applications received. The applications, and teir associated evidence, are reviewed by a panel of ODLAA members who recommend awards to the Executive.

ODLAA members are encouraged to be vigilant in recognising and nominating potential projects and products for the next awards.

Specific information and nomination forms for each of the two Awards areas of Excellent Practice and Research are avilable when a call for nominations is announced.

Previous awards

Three awards were conferred at the 2003 Biennial Forum and a further nomination was presented with a highly commended citation. ODLAA congratulates the 2003 ODLAA award recipients.

The Northern Territory Open Education College received a Commendation in the category of 'Excellent practice in the development and delivery of DE/OL programs in response to an international or cross-cultural need' for their Music Business CD for Certificates I and II Music (Industry Foundation).

This project was brilliantly conceived particularly in regard to its visual design and its use of colour and music. It demonstrated an excellent understanding and insight of the learners and their access needs, their circumstances, level of literacy skills, and learning preferences.

The judges were in agreement on the creative and imaginative presentation interface, with the skilled use of audio, video, text and animation drawing many superlatives from the judging panel.

Some technical shortcomings in the navigational design prevented this learning program from being deemed excellent. The judges, however, felt that all other aspects of the program were so outstanding that it deserved a special mention as a form of encouragement to the team to strive for technical excellence in a redesign of some aspects of their product and as encouragement to try again for the next ODLAA awards.

Camden Haven High School was presented with an award in the category of 'Excellent practice in the development and delivery of DE/OL programs in pursuit of access or equity' for resources created for the Koori Youth Project.

The judges declared this nomination as an innovative program which clearly addresses a pressing need. Despite limited resources and development time the program shows what a dedicated team can achieve to produce visually appealing, interactive and effective learning materials.

The CD-ROM materials and the print materials in the learning program are fun and creative especially given the obvious resource limitations to develop them. The engaging materials really draw the user into the activities and presentations and the judges found themselves genuinely interested in each activity. Difficult access issues are dealt with in an innovative and effective way and the variety of delivery modes caters for differing learner needs and as well as learning styles and ensures that as many possibilities as possible are covered. The evaluations and outcomes indicate that the combination of delivery modes and the additional support mechanisms work well to meet the needs of each learner.

The program has clearly been well planned and negotiated with all stakeholders and the evaluations show that the program is achieving the outcomes to a high degree. The development team show considerable awareness of the issues that are being addressed and the characteristics of the students which will determine their success.

In all an outstanding learning program which clearly overcomes the constraint placed on its development.

Kay Noble was presented with an award for 'Excellence in a postgraduate coursework, major project report or minor thesis' for her work "An analysis of factors affecting student decisions to attend or not to attend optional residential schools".

The thesis is well constructed, well written and well argued on a subject of direct relevance to distance education practitioners. The presentation and editorial standard is excellent and the research approach taken is sound, with the analysis and discussion of a very high standard. The research questions are well stated and contextualised within the literature, and within the framework of operation at the University of New England.

The topic of this thesis is an important one. The judges commented that the issue of residential schools has been much talked about in the distance education field but despite this, has been little researched. The thesis makes a definite contribution to knowledge and provides supported student opinion through the research that will overcome the reliance on anecdotal evidence.

In the judges' opinion, the research will instigate further research into blended models of distance education and in the area of student approaches to learning at a distance.

The judges agreed that this is a model of an outstanding minor thesis and believe it significantly extends the scope of research in Australian distance education and open learning. A final comment sums up the judges’ unanimous feeling for this thesis: ‘If every thesis was like this, I would be very pleased to see more theses’.

Som Naidu received an award in absentia for 'Excellence in a book or non-print production detailing research' for his edited publication Learning and Teaching with Technology: Principles and Practices.

This book is a fine compendium with excellent representation from Australian and International researchers. The significant number of Australian writers locates Australia in the global context.

The book provides excellent examples in particular disciplines and teaching and learning approaches showing how information and communications technologies (ICT) are being utilized to create rich and productive learning environments. As such the judges believe that the book is a great resource for teachers in any learning environment.

The editor has done a fine job in linking the contributions together and the division into the sections gives an extra focus to the collection of examples. Som indicates that opportunities offered by ICT are causing educators and educational providers to rethink and reengineer the nature of their educational practices. This notion comes through in the framework that underlies the collection, and in Som’s explication of the core processes of teaching and learning which is the basis of the five sections for the book. The quality of the book is enhanced by Som’s guidance and sound structure.

The questioning premise of the book to rethink educational practices as a result of the opportunities offered by ICT, will stimulate further research, and publication in several possible directions.

The judges commented that the contributors show a high level of acknowledgement and use of the literature of information and communications technologies and open and distance learning. The judges wish to commend all contributors on their role in preparing their respective chapters and acknowledge their experience as practitioners at the forefront of ICT developments.