Management Advisory Committee
for Academic Learning
Technologies
http://www.mq.edu.au/provost/governance/macalt.html
Members
Prof Judyth Sachs (Chair), DVC (Provost)
Prof Julie Fitness, Chair, Academic Senate
Mr Chadi Aoun, Faculty of Business & Economics
A/Prof Maree Gosper, Learning & Teaching Centre
Mr Marc Bailey, CIO
Prof John Hedberg, Chair ICT in Education
Ms Maxine Brodie, University Librarian
Prof John Hooper, Dean Higher Degree Research
Mr Andrew Burrell, Director COE
Ms Suzanne Kelly, Director Student Business and System Solutions
A/Prof Steve Cassidy, Assoc Dean (L&T), Faculty of Science
A/Prof Ian Solomonides, Director, Learning & Teaching Centre
Mr Terrence Collins, Manager Learning Systems and Services
A/Prof Sherman Young, Assoc Dean (L&T), Faculty of Arts
In Attendance
Ms Barb McLean, Executive Officer
Ms Jennifer Peasley, for Ms Maxine Brodie
Apologies
Ms Maxine Brodie, University Librarian
Prof Julie Fitness, Chair Academic Senate
Prof John Hooper, Dean Higher Degree Research
Minutes
2.00p.m.-3.30p.m. Monday 8th March 2010, Function Room, level 2, E11A
1. Minutes of the Meeting 10th December 2009 and Business Arising Adopted
1.1. Report on pilot survey on student use of technologies at MQ, UT,S and UWS
A/Prof Gosper referred the meeting to the Website for the report on the pilot
project: http://www.mq.edu.au/ltc/projects/student_it_experience/ . She also tabled copies of
the resulting draft student survey to be administered after Easter.
The pilot study (while only 10 students were involved) found that computing
devices and social networking tools were used to organise their life but these
were not translated across into their learning. Cost, time and convenience are
the major barriers:

iphones were seen as too expensive, with too small screens to be used for
learning

students will not use a technology if it takes too long to learn (if a lecturer
required students to use a technology it was felt that class time should be
used for them to learn the technology)

laptops are too heavy to transport by public transport (plus there is
nowhere to print on campus and a lack of power outlets for charging)
A/Prof Gosper asked for feedback on the student survey.
1
Management Advisory Committee
for Academic Learning
Technologies
1.2. Presentation on MOODLE Trial
JH & SC
Prof Hedberg tabled a paper on his experiences of using both MOODLE and
Blackboard. A/Prof Cassidy demonstrated his use of MOODLE with one of
his units, which involves no face-to-face lectures and where MOODLE is used
to provide 4-5 videos per week of 10 to 30 minutes in length, practical
problem-solving exercises and to upload assignments (including computer
code), mark and then send them back to students. It is A/Prof Cassidy’s belief
that MOODLE demonstrates greater flexibility than Blackboard in these
functions. MOODLE also provides the lecturer with a participation report,
allowing lecturers to follow-up students that appear to be falling behind.
A/Prof Cassidy also reported that MOODLE allows pages to be themed to
faculty or department look and feel.
Discussion ensued on the suitability of compacting the timeline for the
decision on the future Learning Management System for Macquarie. Issues
include:

Impact on power users of the existing version of Blackboard,
including plug-ins to Blackboard

The Learning and Teaching Centre needs to work with academics to
remove inactive Blackboard units (there are 1,500 of these)

Support and training implications for the Learning and Teaching
Centre

Making a quick decision and avoiding new legacies

Staff already coping with implementation of the new U/G curriculum
(design of capstone units) and the commencement of implementation
of the P/G curriculum
The Chair called for A/Prof Ian Solomonides and Mr Marc Bailey to meet and
decide a way forward to facilitate a decision at the 12th July 2010 meeting of
MACALT.
Adopted
1.3. Update from Working Party on Student Laptops
MB
See tabled paper.
2. Blueprint for the Future Project
MG
A/Prof Gosper tabled a Report providing a review on progress against
Recommendations. Once the Learning Technologies Policy has signoff from the
University solicitors and once MQUIS is operational, a quality assurance process
will be in place for technologies used for learning and teaching.
The Chair congratulated A/Prof Gosper and her team for this achievement.
2
Management Advisory Committee
for Academic Learning
Technologies
3. Report from the CIO
MB
The CIO recounted the top ten Informatics achievements since the last MACALT
meeting. They are published on the CIO2.0 blog and available here:
http://cio.mq.edu.au/2010/03/top10/
The CIO additionally reported on the following progress:

OneNet WiFi access is being extended to all teaching and learning spaces
through grant funding, with approximately another 300 access points
planned to be deployed in the next quarter. Notably E4A now has
saturation coverage.

Project Horizon provides transparent access to all ITS projects, their status
and timing. There is interest from OFM, AMIS and FBE in using the same
system. This will ship as OnePlan to a broader audience within
approximately one month. More information about the underlying
software application is available at: http://www.attask.com

Project Envoy is underway to provide a cross-functional issue
tracking/ticketing system that is an outsourced product, unaffected by
internal system availability and hence has the ability to survive network
outage. All faculties except Science have opted in, and the product will
ship as OneHelp. This will also be available within approximately two
months at http://help.mq.edu.au
More information about the underlying software application is available at:
http://www.webhelpdesk.com

The United Federation of Infoservices is well established and is delivering
value through cooperation across demarcation lines.

A CIO for the Macquarie Hospital has been appointed – Mr Geoff Harders

Working with colleagues in other Sydney universities to access a Federal
Government infrastructure pool of $37m to shore up the Sydney Basin
Fibre Network

Project Omnipedia to develop an enterprise, secure repository for Wikis.
This is distinct from the Centric Minds WebCMS rollout, which focuses
on presentation rather than storage of information. Refer:
http://cio.mq.edu.au/2010/03/omnipedia/
Mr. Bailey further commented that a team restructure for Informatics, Analytics and
Memory is in implementation consultation stage and is expected to proceed as
planned by 1 April at the latest. Three key new management positions are being
advertised, Information Director, Product Manager and Development Manager. The
proposal is transparently available by authenticating using staff portal credentials:
https://wiki.informatics.mq.edu.au/display/2010/Managing+Change+Proposal
3
Management Advisory Committee
for Academic Learning
Technologies
4. Learning Systems and Services Usage Statistics
TC
Mr Collins spoke to his 2009 Learning Systems & Services Report, noting that
there is still a problem with engaging with academics and forward planning for the
next semester units.
Mr Collins tabled the Learning Systems and Services: 2010 (YTD) Statistics.
These figures demonstrate continuing growth in usage
5. Student Demand for Alternative Modes of Course Delivery
Noted
5.1. Hanover Research Council Report
http://www.mq.edu.au/provost/reports/docs/Student_Demand_Alt_Course.pd
f
5.2. Response from A/Prof Maree Gosper
http://www.mq.edu.au/provost/reports/docs/hanover_report_response_gosper.
doc
The Chair informed the meeting that Macquarie has a subscription with Hanover
to undertake research and welcomes suggestions for future research reports.
6. Any Other Business
Nil
7. Next Meeting
2.00-3.30p.m. Monday 19th April 2010, Function Room E11A
4