Online and distance learning is becoming increasingly common. Some would say it has quickly become the preferred or 'new normal' mode of study throughout the world. However, surprisingly little is known about what actually happens to first year distance students once they have enrolled in tertiary institutions; what motivates them and how they actually experience the transition to formal study by distance. This gap in the literature presents a challenge for distance education providers who, worldwide, are coming under increasing scrutiny in light of poor retention, progression, and completion rates. Against this backdrop, the purpose of the current study was to gather insights and seek a deeper understanding from first-time distance learners about the nature of their experiences. The study involved a mixed method approach over three phases. This paper focuses on the third phase, which was the major component of the study. The lived experiences of 20 first-time distance learners were gathered, in their own words, using weekly video diaries for data collection. Over 22 hours of video data was transcribed and thematically analysed, from which five themes have been reported. The discussion reflects on the ways that video diaries have provided a unique insight around the complexities of distance learning -as distinct from campus-based learning. The paper concludes that the new digital learning environment made possible by the Internet offers a number of exciting possibilities for distance learners; however, more needs to be done by institutions to change the 'lone wolf' preconception of distance education and to avoid the 'goulash approach' to supporting distance learners. The lives of first-time distance learners are not black and white; they are complex shades of grey and this need to be taken in to account when designing appropriate learning experiences and supports to ensure student success. Stories from Students in Their First Semester of Distance LearningBrown, Hughes, Keppell, Hard and Smith 2

This paper documents the development and findings of the Good Practice Report on Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). Developing the Good Practice Report required a meta-analysis of 33 ALTC learning and teaching projects relating to technology funded between 2006 and 2010. This report forms one of 12 completed Good Practice Reports on a range of different topics commissioned by the ALTC and Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT). The reports aim to reduce issues relating to dissemination that projects face within the sector by providing educators with an efficient and accessible way of engaging with and filtering through the resources and experiences of numerous learning and teaching projects funded by the ALTC and OLT. The Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching Report highlights examples of good practice and provides outcomes and recommendations based on the meta-analysis of the relevant learning and teaching projects. However, in order to ensure the value of these reports is realised, educators need to engage with the reports and integrate the information and findings into their practice. The paper concludes by detailing how educational networks can be utilised to support dissemination.Keywords: technology; learning and teaching; higher education; best practice ContextThe increasing availability and access to new technologies has focussed attention on technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and the possibilities now open to educators. As noted by Weller (2011), new technologies have the potential to reshape all scholarly areas. The area of teaching holds great opportunities for radical change to emerge in regards to the application of new technologies. With access to online content and new modes of interaction and engagement, traditional forms of teaching are being challenged and new models are emerging such as MOOCs (massive online open courses) that are generating discussion across the sector. However, despite increasing hype and interest there remains a disconnect between technologies, research, design and practice (Wang and Hannafin 2005). This has meant that whilst the potential for radical change to teaching persists, issues in disseminating good practice, research findings and effective e-learning designs continue to impede the rate of successful

While provision of appropriate supports in the first year of study has been found to have a positive effect on student success, supports targeting online and distance learners are often applied in a "goulash approach." Against this backdrop, the research investigated the experiences of first-time distance learners with a view to informing the future design of supports during the early stages of the study lifecycle. The study was framed around Design-Based Research involving a mixed method approach over three phases: a stocktake of services designed to support distance learning; a pre-and post-semester survey of first-time distance learners; and a video diary phase that gathered the lived experiences of 20 students upon commencement of their study. Triangulated results of the three phases highlight a disconnection between institutional support services and the majority of first-time distance learners who demonstrated a self-sufficient, lone wolf approach to learning.

WHILE MUCH HAS BEEN written about recent reforms in Australian early childhood education (birth to five) policy, less attention has been directed towards the changes across the whole early childhood period (birth to eight) and potential links between policy covering the prior-to-school and early school years. The near-concurrent introduction of two national curriculum documents covering these sectors has provided opportunities to explore such links. Recognising that such national approaches do not emerge from a vacuum, we identified a wide range of additional documents that contributed to the history, development, implementation and evaluation of the national curriculum documents, with the aim of exploring the links across these and the policy imperatives guiding these. Qualitative Document Analysis was used to manage the overwhelming number of related documents that were identified. In this paper, we share the processes used in the descriptive coding of a large corpus of documents, and reflect on the advantages and challenges encountered. We share these reflections not only as a means of contributing to discussions about the nature and impact of early childhood policy, but also to provide a transparent basis for future analyses.

Many Open and Distance Learning (ODL) providers report that their students are prone to lower rates of retention and completion than campus-based students. Against this background, there is growing interest around distance-specific learning support. The current research investigated the experiences of students during their first semester as distance learners at Massey University in New Zealand. The overarching methodology was Design-Based Research, within which phenomenological data gathering methods were used to study the experiences of twenty participants from their own point of view. Using video cameras, over twentytwo hours of self-reflections were gathered between July and November 2011 using a technique adapted from previous studies. A grounded theory approach was applied to the process of thematic data analysis. Results revealed how participants varied in their engagement with learning supports, including orientation events, outreach activity, cultural services, learning consultants, library services, fellow students, lecturers, residential courses, and other people. The discussion reflects on clusters of participants who utilised learning supports effectively, moderately and barely. The paper concludes by summarizing how the current research has had an impact on the design of learning support services at one of the world's leading providers of distance education.