University of Canberra/SAFFIRE/Festival

SAFFIRE Festival

The SAFFIRE Festival, 18-19 March, 2013, University of Canberra, Australia was a festival of flexible innovative teaching and learning, with particular focus on Flexibility and Innovation (curriculum reform), Recruitment (and retention), and student Engagement). Local, national and international participants physically and virtually discussed the future of education, innovative teaching and learning methods and educational technology, with particular reference to how to position UC in the emerging educational environment. The festival included:

1. Launch of AU$26 million SAFFIRE project to innovation and enhance curriculum reform, recruitment and retention, and student engagement at UC 2013-2014
2. Speakers:
   1. Gilly Salmon, PVC Learning Transformations at Swinburne
   2. George Siemens, Professor of Distance Learning at Athabasca
   3. Stephen Harris, principal of the Northern Beaches Christian School
   4. Stephanie Faye, heads up the higher education portfolio at Ernst and Young, published the ground-breaking report “University of the Future” (2012).
3. Presentations, demonstrations, workshops, planning sessions and seminars on innovative flexible learning topics
4. "Managing sustainable education innovation" panel discussion to draw together managers with extensive experience in leading organisations through educational change and strategic repositioning
5. Jam for future educational design using human-centred design principles (User-centered design)

Tweets from the festival

Program

SAFFIRE Festival Program Mar 18 - 19, 2013, University of Canberra #ucsaffire on Twitter

Time	Open area	Teal area
Monday
9:30AM	Gary Tamsitt Associate Professor and Director ANU Legal Workshop	Helen Keegan, @heloukee - Alternate Realities: Alternative Pedagogies National Teaching Fellow, Senior Lecturer in Interactive Media, University of Salford Manchester, UK
10:00AM	Nick Klomp, @nicholasklomp – Welcome and SAFFIRE announcement: What is SAFFIRE? How does it impact you?
10:30AM	Faculty of Business, Government and Law Tony Krone Michael de Percy, @madepercy - Flexible learning through original video content Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Government Law, University of Canberra Lubna Alam, @lubnaalam - Flexibility in research-led education Lecturer, Faculty of Business Government Law, University of Canberra Greg Boland - Developing a sustainable curriculumSenior Lecturer, Management Studies, Faculty of Business, Government & Law
11:00AM	Mitchell Whitelaw, @mtchl - Engaging with complexity: On interactive visualisation, exploration, and what comes after search Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Canberra Program Director B. Comm (Media/Multimedia)	Megan Poore, @megpoore - Managing online risk with your students: Best practice for using social media in the classroom Assistant Professor, Education, University of Canberra
11:30AM	James Neill, @jtneill - Openness and flexibility: How open education can facilitate flexible learning Assistant Professor, Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra	Amy Collier, @amcollier - Stanford's experiments with online learning and MOOCs: What we're doing, what we're learning Director for Teachnology and Teaching Online Learning, Stanford University, USA
12:30PM	Jonathan Powles, @jonpowles - Universities and the Domino’s Effect	Shirley Reushle, @sreushle - Exploring the future of education: Reporting on the 2013 NMC Horizon Project Summit Associate Director, Australian Digital Futures Institute
1:00PM	Faculty of Education, Science, Technology, Education & Maths Kris Kershaw Thomas Nielsen Jim Woolnough and Tamsin Kelly Roland Goecke, Ideas for the SAFFIRE project
1:30PM	Stephen Harris, @stephen_h Founder, Sydney Centre of Innovation in Learning	Mark Smithers, @marksmithers - MOOCs, Disruptive Innovation and the Future of the Academy Education Technologist, Swinburne Online
2:00PM	Faculty of Art & Design Felicia Zhang Sam Hinton
2:30PM	Gary Scudder, @scuddertravel - Bridging the divide: Perspectives on curricular transformation in the United States and the Middle East Professor, Champlain College, USA	Sarah Thorneycroft, @sthcrft - Outside the Echo Chamber: Shopping for innovation in unexpected places Academic Developer, Innovation Support Team, University of New England
3:00PM	Stephen Barrass, @umwebejo - Research led teaching in X-Media Associate Professor, Media Arts & Production, University of Canberra	Aliya Steed, @afsteed Lecturer and Manager College Education, Innovation Support Team, ANU
3:30PM	Dean Groom, @Type217 Manager, Education Development Group, Macquarie University	George Siemens, @gsiemens Associate Director, Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute, Athabasca University, USA
4:00PM	Geoffrey Crisp, @gcrisp01 - Assessment - Where to from here? Dean, Learning and Teaching, RMIT	Stephanie Fahey
4:30PM-5:00PM	Pauline Farrell - Mobility - Always ON	Jocasta Williams, @jocastaw - Powering the age of Active Learning – Echo360 and Lecture Tools
6:00PM-9:00PM	GALA DINNER: ‘Flexible Learning for Fun, Fame and Fortune’ Panel discussion: Nick Klomp, Stephen Harris, Stephanie Fahey, Justin Brow, Gary Tamsitt, Sarah Thorneycroft
Tuesday
7:30AM-9:00AM	Breakfast
9:00am		Design jam
10:00AM	Keith Lyons, @520507 - Open for Business: can we blend open educational resources with affordable, sustainable fees for service? Professor, Sports Studies, University of Canberra	Design jam
10:30AM	Faculty of Health Richard Keegan, SportPsychAus - Twitter lectures Lecturer, Psychologist and Researcher in the Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Faculty of Health James Neill, @jtneill Keith Lyons, @520507	Design jam
11:00-11:30AM	Gilly Salmon, @gillysalmon - What is the future university experience? – Flexible Learning Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning Transformations), Swinburne University	Design jam
11:30-5.00PM		Design jam

External links

1. SAFFIRE festival fires up education debate (UC Monitor, 4 April, 2013)