Carla DeMarco has had a 30+ year career at the University of Toronto, working in a variety of roles in communications at OISE, the U of T Magazine, Advancement and Public Affairs, as well as at U of T Mississauga in the Offices of the Vice-Principal, Research, and the Vice-Principal, Academic and Dean.

In 2016, Carla conceived, created, and launched the podcast VIEW to the U: an eye on the UTM academic community. Over an eight-year period, Carla hosted, produced, and posted over 60 tracks that have accumulated over 31,000 listens.

In addition, Carla was selected to present on podcasting at the Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI) Annual Meeting in San Francisco in 2019. This led to her applying and being accepted (one of only eight recipients selected) for SRAI’s prestigious Author Fellowship in 2020, and, with the support of this program, Carla published “Hear Here! The Case for Podcasting in Research” in the Journal of Research Administration (April 2022).

Carla also helped launch a second podcast in 2021: SRAI’s Shop Talk. Initially she chaired SRAI’s podcast committee to conceive and spearhead this podcast, and was asked to serve as its creator, host, and producer for the first two seasons, interviewing SRAI-connected people across several countries and continents. Carla was subsequently recognized with SRAI’s Technology Innovation and Application Award in 2022.

Carla is currently seconded for a two-year term as the inaugural Communications Manager in the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students at the University of Toronto.

In this episode, we explore transformative innovations in online learning and assessment that bring uniqueness and attractiveness to online education in higher ed. Over the past decade, technology has significantly reshaped teaching, moving beyond traditional methods to create more dynamic and engaging learning environments.

Dr. Rose Babaee from UCLA, with over ten years of experience in higher education in Australia and the USA, shares her insights into these changes.

We discuss how online learning has evolved to meet the needs of today’s students, emphasising the importance of creating high quality engaging and community-driven learning experiences. The conversation also highlights new approaches to assessment that focus on the learning process, ensuring that students are better prepared for the future of work.

For more information about designing effective assessments, check out Rose’s work at this link: https://roseebabaee.my.canva.site/rosebabaee.

In this episode, we explore the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on academic writing. Our guest, Sandie Elsom, Lecturer in Technology Education and AI enthusiast, discusses the challenges of distinguishing AI-generated text from human writing and explores the implications for academic integrity. We'll uncover the linguistic features that often differentiate AI-generated text and examine the effectiveness of current detection tools. Join us as we navigate the complexities of AI in education and discuss strategies for encouraging academic honesty in the age of AI.

Berber Sardinha, T. (2024). AI-generated vs human-authored texts: A multidimensional comparison. Applied Corpus Linguistics, 4(1), 100083-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acorp.2023.100083

Liang, W., Izzo, Z., Zhang, Y., Lepp, H., Cao, H., Zhao, X., Chen, L., Ye, H., Liu, S., Huang, Z., McFarland, D. A., & Zou, J. Y. (2024). Monitoring AI-Modified Content at Scale: A Case Study on the Impact of ChatGPT on AI Conference Peer Reviews. arXiv.Org. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2403.07183

Muñoz-Ortiz, A., Gómez-Rodríguez, C., & Vilares, D. (2023). Contrasting Linguistic Patterns in Human and LLM-Generated Text. arXiv.Org. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2308.09067

Turnitin AI Technical Staff. (2023). Turnitin’s AI writing detection model architecture and testing protocol. Turnitin. https://www.turnitin.com/

Weber-Wulff, D., Anohina-Naumeca, A., Bjelobaba, S., Foltýnek, T., Guerrero-Dib, J., Popoola, O., Šigut, P., & Waddington, L. (2023). Testing of detection tools for AI-generated text. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 19(1), 26–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-023-00146-z

In this episode, we focus on the remarkable impact of online education in conflict zones. Our guest, David Falconer, is the Founder and Executive Director of Classrooms Without Walls (CWW), a Canadian organization that has been providing free online education to children living in these challenging environments. Since its inception in November 2022, CWW has launched three programs to support children in Ukraine, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.

If you are interested in volunteering with the CCW program, please contact David via email.

dfalconer@classroomswithoutwalls.ca

Today we're chatting on a topic that's crucial for anyone in the field of education research or anyone curious about quality survey construction and robust survey scale validation. We're talking about Rasch model analysis with Associate Professor Michael Carey. He uses a cake baking metaphor to explain how the Rasch model technique is applied to survey design and validation in plain English. He also refers to some recently published STEM research as examples of how a large 77-item preservice teacher TPACK self-audit instrument was developed and validated:

The development and validation of a self-audit survey instrument that evaluates preservice teachers’ confidence to use technologies to support student learning. Michael D. Carey, David A. Martin, and Natalie McMaster. 2024. International Journal of Research & Method in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2024.2341714

Assessing primary school preservice teachers' confidence to apply their TPACK in specific categories of technologies using a self-audit survey. David A. Martin, Michael D. Carey, Natalie McMaster and Madeleine Clarkin. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-023-00669-x

Dr Geoffrey Chapman is a lecturer at CQU in Sydney and passionate about gamification. He has introduced his love for escape rooms into his tertiary classroom. During Covid, he translated them into the online learning space and is now using them in his postgraduate teaching. They are great for team building, clear objectives and a bit of time pressure. His students love them. Get in touch with Geoff if you would like to learn more. g.chapman@cqu.edu.au