Project updates

Project commissioning was completed in March 2012

The  project started on 3 October 2011, with establishment of  the administrative and logistical systems as the initial key task.

The team members met in November to review the project and study plans as well as to agree operational details. The external evaluator briefed the team on the evaluation methodology.

In February 2012, arrangements were made to incorporate the University of Adelaide as a new institutional partner. Ethical clearance was received from all partner institutes and this website was published.

The first interim progress report was delivered to OLT on 2 April.

Student recruitment commenced in March 2012

Central Queensland University (CQU) began recruiting students by direct mail in mid-March. The study created considerable interest there, with data collection for CQU now completed. The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) adopted a more targeted recruitment strategy and have registered more than a dozen students to take part in study activities from July. The University of Adelaide and The University of Queensland began recruitment at the end of March (census date) using a broader messaging strategy,  with lower and slower results. Recruitment at those institutes is continuing into the beginning of the coming semester and will close on 28 September.

Second face-to-face team meeting held in June 2012

The team met at UQ on 15 June to review progress and plan the next phase in the project. The external evaluator, Edward Palmer, presented a largely positive report on the proceedings so far. The team will next meet in October 2012 at the project writers' retreat. The first policy and practice workshop is planned to run in conjunction with the ODLAA Summit in Sydney in February 2013. Institutional policy and practice workshops will be held subsequently.

Preparations for Stage 2 (development, evaluation and dissemination) of the project  commence

With the investigation stage drawing to a close, analysis of the rich, multi-media data collection is in progress. A podcast, on social media and new modes of learning' by Dr Trish Andrews has been published on the Higher Education Development Association blog. You can access the podcast here (external link).

Members of the team have had papers accepted for

• 7th ERGA Conference, 19-21 September 2012, The University of Adelaide
• 29th ascilite Conference, 25-28 November 2012, Wellington, New Zealand

Writers' Retreat held in October 2012

The project team met for a week in late October  to review and expand the data analysis, develop and draft  the material for the policy and practice workshops and associated podcasts as well as plan additional papers.

Third face-to-face meeting held in January 2013

This was a two-day meeting held at UQ to progress selection and allocation of the thematic case studies that will underpin the policy and practice workshops. The project's external evaluator also attended. Preliminary dates for the workshops were discussed. USQ will begin the workshop series in early March, the University of Adelaide plans are for late May with CQU in early June. The UQ workshop will follow in the spring. Final dates are still in discussion as the team are looking to connect the workshops to other instituional activities aimed at a similar policy and practice audience. The venue for the National workshop came under review with a new proposal now under investigation. The aim here is again to link to a national meeting that will attract an appropriate and interested audience. See the News page for further developments.

Policy and Practice workshop series begins

The first workshop has been held in Toowoomba at USQ on 12 March 2013. Professor Belinda Tynan presented an overview of the study methods, results and key propositions responding to the main research question ' How do mature-age distance learners manage their learning?' Two thematic case studies have been produced as podcasts for use in this workshop. 'Concurrent' and 'Distractions' each represent an amalgam of student voices on firstly, how students orchestrate the time for their studies and, secondly, some of the distractions they contend with. The presentation, case studies and podcasts will be made available on this website (Project outcomes page) shortly.

Details of the CQU, Adelaide, UQ workshops will made available on the News page as soon as these have been finalised.

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