Asking students questions is a ubiquitous but often underestimated aspect of teaching within higher education. Questions can be used to engage students in discussion, to check their understanding, and to encourage participation or sharing of ideas. However, while it is a useful strategy to prepare a few key questions before class, many questions…

In-class feedback is an invaluable component of the teaching and learning process. It is an important tool by which students understand how well they are doing and what they need to do differently before completing their final assessments and receiving their summative marks. It also enables teachers to assess how well their students are following…

Mobile devices, particularly smartphones, have become an integral part of daily lives, and we take them with us almost everywhere we go. In most cases these are examples of informal learning and how we now choose to find and utilise online information and create and share rich media. How then can we use these devices to learn in "formal"…

How can educators create learning activities and tasks, or modify existing tasks, to support general ambitions for high quality online learning? This document provides some advice to respond to this in the form of seven specific ways to improve online learning in a subject. The focus is on providing ways in which educators can, relatively easily…

Authentic online collaboration focuses upon exploring (often complex) real world problems or practice, and highlights the importance of designing learning experiences that involve interdisciplinary collaboration. Most professions involve some form of teamwork and collaboration across a variety of discipline and cultural boundaries; therefore, this…

As University communities are increasingly affected by the global pandemic, University engagement will and should 'look different' in 2020. There is a risk that academic engagement may be pushed to the sidelines during the time of global pandemic. This report offers eight recommendations of small actions that a University community could take to…

The term 'engagement' is much researched but tricky to define in the field of educational technology and online learning. In this short paper I will offer three perspectives on what 'engagement' means in online learning environments and provide some advice to educators on how student engagement in online learning might be promoted. The…

Feedback is an essential part of learning in any context. Timely, detailed feedback, whether delivered formally or informally, helps people learn more effectively by providing a clear sense of where they are and what they have to do to improve. In the university context, feedback assists students in developing mastery of their disciplines and more…

Nine educational principles underpin the University of Melbourne's teaching and learning objectives. These principles represent the shared view within the University of the processes and conditions that contribute to first-class higher education. The nine principles were first adopted by the University's Academic Board in 2002. This renewed…