Events

Webinars

ODLAA regularly provides the opportunity for members to engage in scholarly conversations with leading international and Australian scholars and practitioners through our webinar series. To join us for a webinar on a current or emerging issue in open and distance education make sure you register. 

Coming soon

The newly elected Executive Committee are currently busy planning on some exciting 2024 events.

EVENTS PLANNED INCLUDE:

  • A 50th Anniversary celebration event.
  • Launch of the ODLAA Scholarship program.
  • Distance Education top publications webinar.
  • Lessons learned through a statewide COP on micro-credentials.

Come back soon to find out about these events or follow us on Twitter.

Previous Webinars

International Women's Day

Celebrating International Women's Day 2023: The Encyclopedia of Female Pioneers of Online Learning

ODLAA in partnership with FLANZ, hosted this special International Women’s Day webinar. Dr Norine Wark and Dr Susan Bainbridge took us through their recently released Encyclopedia of Female Pioneers of Online Learning. A great opportunity to showcase the work of women leaders in online learning.

when

Thursday, March 8, 2023
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEDT)

presenterS

Dr Norine Wark and Dr Susan Bainbridge

Athabasca University

Student with computer

Doctoral students’ perceptions of student-led discussion forums in online classes

The purpose of this study was to examine graduate students’ perceptions regarding student-led discussion forums in online classes. Five distinct themes emerged through participants’ qualitative responses: in-depth learning, diversity of thoughts, student engagement, teaching skills, and time-consuming.

Attend this webinar to find out more.

when

Thursday, October 27, 2022
9.30 am –10.30 am (AEDT)

presenter

Nara M. Martirosyan

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, USA

Four people giving thumbs up

Toward building a fair peer recommender to support help-seeking in online learning

Help-seeking is a valuable practice in online discussion forums. However, the asynchronicity and information overload of online discussion forums have made it challenging for help seekers and providers to connect effectively. This study formulated a new method to provide fair and accurate insights toward building a peer recommender to support help-seeking in online learning. Want to know more? Join us at this webinar.

when

Thursday, September 29, 2022
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEDT)

presenterS

Wanli Xing

University of Florida, USA

Online Research Trends

Research trends in online distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

Visualizations of research show that the field has focused largely on remote teaching as a new term to depict online distance learning but has also covered a wider spectrum of issues in relation to teaching and learning, with an emphasis on technologies for teaching and learning, assessment, teacher capacities, and institutional preparedness.

when

Thursday, August 25, 2022
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEST)

presenterS

Sanjaya Mishra

Commonwealth of Learning, Canada

Sidhartha Sahoowill

Banaras Hindu University, India

Shriram Pandey

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information, India

Teacher in pandemic

Home broadband and student engagement during COVID-19 emergency remote teaching

During 2019–2020, school buildings worldwide closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar reports on the findings of a study that assessed the influence of high-speed broadband availability on student engagement with distance learning within 206 secondary schools in Ireland. What are the implications for schools and government? Join us to find out. 

when

Thursday, July 28, 2022
3.30 pm – 4.30 pm (AEST)

presenterS

Ciarán Mac Domhnaill, Gretta Mohan and Selina McCoy

Economic and Social Research Institute, Ireland

Distance Education, 2021, Vol 42, Issue 4, Pages 465-493

Family members


Distance education students’ satisfaction: Do work and family roles matter?

The perceived flexibility of distance education, whereby students can juggle their multiple life roles, is often cited as the predominant reason for enrolling in this mode of study. This study (1) explores whether the paid worker role or family role predict distance learners’ satisfaction; (2) examines the relationship between role conflict and role facilitation regarding distance learners’ satisfaction; and (3) investigates the role of sociodemographic characteristics as potential moderators in this relationship. Join us for some interesting insights. 

when

Thursday, June 30, 2022
3.30 pm – 4.30 pm (AEST)

presenter

Philippa Waterhouse, Rajvinder Samra and Mathijs Lucassen

Open University, UK

Distance Education, 2022, Vol 43, Issue 1, Pages 56-77

Effects of online teaching presence on students’ cognitive conflict and engagement

This webinar shares findings of a study that explored the effects of online teaching presence on students’ cognitive conflict and engagement by analyzing three rounds of a course taught with different levels of teaching presence. Join us to find out the results of this interesting study and gain practical advice for online teaching.

when

Thursday, May 26, 2022
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEST)

presenter

Yang Wang

Nanjing Normal University, China

Distance Education, 2021, Vol 42, Issue 4, Pages 547-566

K-12 teachers’ barriers to implementing OER

Open educational resources (OER) are a cost-effective alternative to traditional textbooks for K-12 teachers to provide differentiated instruction at a much lower cost. However, teachers have to overcome barriers to implement OER in their classrooms. Join us for this webinar to gain insights into the barriers to implementing OERs and strategies for overcoming them in a in K – 12 environments. 

when

Thursday, March 31, 2022
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEDT)

presenters

Hangtao Tang
Yu Bao

University of South Carolina, USA

Distance Education, 2021, Vol 42, Issue 4, Pages 582-598

Becoming scholarly practitioners: Creating community in online professional doctoral education

In 2020 there was an upsurge in professional doctorates being taught online. What have been the perceived effects of adapted pedagogies on learning and community?

when

Thursday, February 24, 2022
9.30 am – 10.30 am (ADST)

presenters

Veselina Lambrev
Barbara Cruz

University of South Florida, USA

Distance Education, 2021, Vol 42, Issue 4, Pages 567-581

Remote proctored exams: Integrity assurance in online education

Remote proctored exams have become an important tool to ensure integrity and academic honesty in distance education, but how have they impacted student learning and their academic integrity? 

when

Thursday, November 25, 2021
9.30 am – 10.30 am (ADST)

presenter

Sandra Gudiño Paredes

Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, México

Distance Education, 2021, Vol 42, Issue 2, Pages 200-218

Impacts of authentic assessment on the development of graduate attributes

The role of authentic assessment activities is critical in the development of graduate attributes among learners. This webinar offers insights into this challenge as well as strategies for examining the impacts of assessment activities on graduate attributes. 

when

Thursday, October 21 2021
9.30 am – 10.30 am (ADST)

presenters

Shironica Karunanayaka
Som Naidu

The Open University of Sri Lanka, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

Distance Education, 2020, Vol 41, Issue 2, Pages 231-252 

Developing lifelong learning with heutagogy: contexts, critiques, and challenges

The COVID-19 global pandemic caused a significant shift in instructional responsibilities as parents overnight became instructors for their children. Resulting from this transition, we have seen several examples of heutagogy used by both adults and children. This webinar gives attention to some of the challenges of implementing heutagogy.

when

Thursday, 30 September 2021
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEST)

presenter

Rob Moore

Old Dominion University, USA

Distance Education, 2021, Vol 42, Issue 4, Pages 547-581

How to decide among videoconferencing systems to support experiential e-learning

This presentation will focus on our recent study that analyzes four widely used videoconferencing systems: Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and WhatsApp using experiential e-learning as the framework.

when

Thursday, 26 August 2021
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEST)

presenters

Ana-Paula Correia
Chenx Liu
Fan Xu

The Ohio State University, USA

Distance Education, 2020, Vol 41, Issue 3, Pages 381-401

Distance Education across critical theoretical landscapes: touchstones for quality research & teaching

The COVID-19 pandemic both exposed and exacerbated disparities in access and equity in distance education. The purpose of this webinar is to revisit “what we have learned,” or maybe “what we should have learned.”

when

Thursday, July 29 2021
9.30 am – 10.30 am (ADST)

presenters

Dr Mary F. Rice

University of New Mexico, USA

Dr Xeturah Woodley

Guilford Technical College, USA

Dr Patrick Lowenthal

Bosie State University, USA

Distance Education, 2020, Vol 41, Issue 3, Pages 391-325

Educational distancing

Research findings support the conclusion that sudden changes in DE approaches cause teachers who lack experience of online teaching to revert to a lower level of quality than the DE field has come to expect. The webinar will discuss ways for the field to prevent this from doing lasting damage to its reputation. 

when

Thursday, 24 June, 2021
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEST)

presenter

Professor Jon Bagley

Athabasca University, Canada

Distance Education, 2020, Vol 41, Issue 3, Pages 582-588

Understanding vicarious participation in online language learning

Online environments afford opportunities for participation, but equally offer a new perspective on engaging vicariously. This webinar will be drawing on socio-cognitive theory and the concept of vicarious learning to show how language learners combine live and vicarious participation in online tutorials to benefit their learning. 

when

Thursday, 27 May 2021
9.30 am – 10.30 am (AEST)

presenter

Dr Christine Pleines

The Open University, UK

Distance Education, 2020, Vol 41, Issue 3, Pages 453-471