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Gregory, Susanne
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Given Name
Susanne
Susanne
Surname
Gregory
UNE Researcher ID
une-id:sgregor4
Email
sgregor4@une.edu.au
Preferred Given Name
Sue
School/Department
School of Education
28 results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 28
- PublicationSnapchat 'selfies': The case of disappearing data(Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), 2014)
; ; Little has been written about the impact of ephemeral messaging technologies such as Snapchat, Wickr and iDelete on learner identities. The authors explore how disappearing social media may enable young people to take up a range of discourses and demonstrate discursive agency in ways that support social mobility through shifting relationships with their peers. Much of this unfolds through the transmission of digital images that promote social flexibility. The visibility, of seeing and being seen, demonstrates a Foucauldian 'gaze' where power plays out through the capacity to be visible and recognisable to others and specific practices (e.g. selfies) become normalised. Social media technologies furnish emergent spaces for underlife activity that foster this gaze. Taking up the Foucault's concept of subjectivities as discursively constituted identity categories, the authors explore the relationship between disappearing media and youth identities. - PublicationSnapchat at school - 'Now you see it...': Networked affect - cyber bullying, harassment and sexting(Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), 2016)
; ; ; ; Snapchat is one of the most popular social media applications among Australian young people. Its global impact has grown rapidly in recent years. Reported is a mixed methods case study located in New South Wales schools. An online survey was conducted with education practitioners to enquire into their experiences of Snapchat in their school settings. The researchers used survey responses and comments from follow up interviews to consider how networked affect is enacted through Snapchat. Networked affect can be seen as a visceral movement of emotion through the intra-action of social media and human bodies. Both corporeal affect and Snapchat have received increased attention by researchers over the last five years although little has been written to link the two. We highlight the importance of reading the affective social impact of Snapchat use among young people and the potential of looking beyond its abuses to the affordances of the application. - PublicationDeveloping Resources for Pre-service Teachers to Promote Online Teaching Support(Australian Government, Office for Learning and Teaching, 2016)
; ; Over the last few decades there have been significant shifts in the ways students engage with both formal and informal learning. This has occurred through the improvements made in available technologies, the advent of new technologies and an increased popularity in the use of online learning spaces. Online learning spaces are particularly important for the distance education learning experience and the rise in virtual schools is a reflection of this. These schools and other online learning environments such as blended learning classrooms and School of the Air provide significant learning opportunities to deliver education opportunities to students who might otherwise be unable to pursue particular studies due to a range of factors such as isolation, mobility (such as with military families), health issues, disabilities, lack of qualified teachers in the area or emotional issues such as bullying (Roblyer, 2006; Toppin & Toppin, 2015; Vasquez & Straub, 2012).
As these changes in teaching and learning environments occur, it becomes increasingly important to reflect these new changes in teacher education courses. Teaching online presents the need for its own separate skillset in order to provide meaningful and rich learning experiences. This project was designed to support pre-service, as well as inservice, teachers in the development of this skillset.
The project, named Pre-Service Teachers Online, surveyed current pre-service teachers in 2015 about online teaching and found that they are, in the main, ill-prepared to meet the skill requirements of online teaching. While their teacher education programs assist them to use Information and Communication Technologies in the traditional classroom setting, solely online teaching is neither discussed nor practised. To assist in redressing this gap, the main output of the project is an open access website with a range of resources to foster learning about, and aid in, developing online teaching skills.
There are three main learning modules on the website (www.pstonline.info) exploring connecting with students and the provision of engaging and authentic learning experiences. The modules include short, informative videos from academics experienced in online teaching and its requirements. The videos are supplemented with a number of relevant readings and, where practicable, examples of applications that can be used to enhance online learning experiences.
This final project report provides an overview of the processes used to develop the website and also, in the appendices, examples of the surveys used which may benefit other institutions interested in replicating the project. There is also a more detailed report of the findings from these surveys.
- PublicationVirtualPREX: Providing Virtual Professional Experience for Pre-Service Teachers(Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2015)
; ; - PublicationHow are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?(University of Tasmania, 2011)
; ; ; ; - Publication'Snapchat', youth subjectivities and sexuality: disappearing media and the discourse of youth innocenceResearch on youth subjectivities and disappearing media is still in its infancy. Ephemeral technologies such as Snapchat, Frankly and Wickr offer young people opportunities for discursive agency, harnessing teenage discourses of social positioning. These media facilitate social mobility in teen peer contexts by providing a medium for dynamic and shifting relationships. The transmission of digital images can enable a social flexibility that has a significant impact on youth subjectivities where discursively constructed relational identities are brokered through cyber technologies. We tackle the question 'what discourses are evoked and produced in the discussion of disappearing social media?' by exploring two parents' accounts of their children's use of this media. We also examine a discourse of innocence that surrounds teens' use of social media and, in particular, ephemeral applications, by sexting and cyberbullying. We engage in the debate on the use of ephemeral social media to consider the discourses influencing youth subjectivities and the nature of networked publics.
- PublicationVirtual classrooms and playgrounds - Why would anyone use them?A virtual classroom and playground have been created in Second Life, which are replicas of real life classrooms and school playgrounds. This paper discusses the creation of a virtual classroom and playground and explains why the decision was taken to base them on exemplars from the real world rather than allow imagination to run riot. It outlines the journey of Jass Easterman and Tamsyn Lexenstar, avatars and our personae as educators in Second Life, as they began to create the environment. In particular, the paper discusses the rationale for the creation of this Second Life area: the need to be able to educate our distance education students in an interactive environment so that they can be engaged more fully as part of an education community. By utilising the Second Life environment, education students from the University of New England will be able to use resources within this virtual environment as they would if they were in a real-world classroom or playground. The opportunity to interact with other students and educators, use a variety of resources and undertake role-playing exercises has the potential to improve learning outcomes and to develop teaching skills. At present, students can only access online resources via one of two Learning Management Systems. This new scenario provides students with the opportunity to become immersed in a virtual environment, interacting with others so that it will seem like they are really there, all from their own home.
- Publication"A Life-Changing Experience": Second Life as a Transformative Learning SpaceHigher education teaching traditionally occurred, and to some extent still does, in face-to-face physical settings (often lecture theatres) with an academic and a group of students. In recent decades, the emphasis has shifted to learning communities and the mode of delivery has evolved from traditional face-to-face to online. This occurs either blended with face-to-face or exclusively online, most commonly through the medium of a learning management system. For students who have been studying by distance education, this has frequently been an isolating, if not alienating, experience. At the University of New England, Australia, transformative learning spaces have been created in the virtual world of Second Life. These spaces have proven to engage students in their learning and provide opportunities for interaction that can span both time and space. In doing this, learning communities and a sense of belonging have been fostered. Data from four research projects are presented in this paper, demonstrating how virtual world learning spaces have transformed learning for students. From the data, it is argued that learning in a virtual world lessens the sense of isolation and heightens the sense of belonging to a learning community. It is also argued that virtual world learning increases engagement and provides opportunities for students removed from each other geographically to work together to meet learning outcomes. The paper is concluded with a discussion of how virtual world learning spaces have the capacity to provide for global sharing of both learning and teaching.
- PublicationComparison of Role-Plays in a Virtual WorldGregory and Masters have been exploring the affordances of teaching in a virtual world since 2008, having taught more than 650 students between them. They have explored a variety of teaching strategies for use in Second Life and the students, from the University of New England, have always provided their perceptions of their learning either after an activity or at the end of their learning. Within this chapter is a comparison of two research projects, undertaken in 2009/2010 and 2011/2012, examining the use of role-playing in a virtual world. The authors present their findings from the data reporting student perceptions of their role-play experiences. The role-plays reported in this chapter were first conducted in Second Life with on-campus students prior to extending the teaching to off-campus students. This was to ensure that the learning experiences were appropriate and would work effectively when real-time trouble-shooting could be used. Both quantitative and qualitative data support the findings reported here. It can be concluded that role-play in a virtual world provides an authentic learning experience for students, particularly if they are not provided with the opportunity of experiencing this technique in a face-to-face setting.
- PublicationSix Hats in Second Life: Enhancing Preservice Teacher Learning in a Virtual WorldA well known teaching and learning strategy for teachers is Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats'. Our research examined the engagement and understanding of first year preservice teachers being taught the theory and practice of this strategy through both on-campus and Second Life (virtual) workshops. In both workshops, the six thinking hats were used to judge student response to the use of this approach in their teaching. This pilot study provides insights into the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning. The paper clarifies methodological issues such as why the Six Thinking Hats were used and the controls that were put in place between real life and Second Life workshops. The results, the challenges that were encountered, the future plans for virtual classrooms, particularly in the area of distance education, and whether this study can be generalised beyond preservice teacher education is discussed.
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