This paper describes a research study that investigated foreign language students' collaborative practice in a blended, authentic learning environment. A group of intermediate and advanced level students of Italian at an Australian university interacted and collaborated with each other and with a group of native speaker mentors through a web-based…

Actively encouraging foreign language learners to establish a meaningful connection with the target language culture--by engaging in authentic activities with other learners and native speakers in real-world communicative contexts--is a critical goal of foreign language education. This paper describes a design-based research study that…

Public health edicts necessitated by COVID-19 prompted a rapid pivot to remote online teaching and learning. Two major consequences followed: households became students' main learning space, and technology became the sole medium of instructional delivery. We use the ideas of "digital disconnect" and "digital divide" to examine,…

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant influence on all aspects of society, and it is necessary to comprehend the responses of various stakeholders as well as the challenges that higher education has encountered in the aftermath of the outbreak. This study systematically analyses the measures taken by higher education stakeholders in response…

Alongside unprecedented shifts in health care, and widespread lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an almost immediate shift towards digitally supported remote delivery in higher education. This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of 15 teaching academics from five universities in Victoria, Australia during…

Literature has previously reported that student-centred practices are the mark of good pedagogy in online education. In contrast, the competency-based nature of vocational education in Australia has been understood to encourage teacher-centred pedagogy. The likely tensions between these two teaching contexts are not yet understood, and little is…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore emerging synergies and tensions between the twin moves to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and online learning and teaching (L&T) in higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: A preliminary global exploration of universities' SDG-based L&T…

Inclusive education in Australia has resulted in a concerted push for the differentiation of pedagogical teaching approaches by educators across Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12) learning environments. Such approaches have been shown to meet a diverse range of learner needs found in today's classrooms. While progress is evident at the primary and…

This article explores some key attributes of effective online tertiary educators. Using qualitative research methods, data were collected via semi-structured interviews which were conducted with a small sample of university academics in New Zealand and Australia, and analysed using an inductive approach and open and closed coding techniques. In…

Bridging the gap between theory and practice in higher education continues to be problematic for educators. One potential means of addressing this problem and moving practice forward is to articulate and share learning designs created from the work of exemplary practitioners. This study offers a new representation of learning design which…

The increasingly interconnected and complex business environment demands business executives to be equipped with highly developed cross-functional skills and the capacity to integrate responsible decision making in business. To develop students with these attributes, the business higher education sector is expected to employ teaching and learning…

Many universities in Australia and internationally now offer education degrees entirely online, without any requirement for face-to-face learning on university campuses. The transition to online learning has occurred rapidly, and has had particularly strong uptake in Initial Teacher Education. This paper examines the perspectives and experiences…

Background/purpose: The current study aims to analyze the thematic structures and trends of scientific publications that examine the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and education, while presenting a roadmap for future research on this topic. Materials/methods: The data were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC)…

The study aims to understand the foremost challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopts the PRISMA approach to screening the selection of journal articles and review papers according to the research aims and the inclusion criteria. The journal articles and review papers were extracted…

The widespread growth of online education at higher education institutions necessitates institutional support for the development, implementation, and sustenance of online education. Faculty who teach online are at the forefront of implementation and play a critical role in online student success. In this scoping review, 13 online education…