Dr Kristy O’Neill, Senior Lecturer (Health & Physical Education) at the School of Education, has been recognised for making a substantial contribution to open and distance learning by the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA). Kristy received an ODLAA National Open and Distance Learning Award in the Higher Education category. This inaugural award was announced at ODLAA’s 50th anniversary celebrations held recently in Melbourne. In receiving this award, Kristy demonstrated excellence in open, online or distance education evidencing proven pedagogies in open and online spaces and, having impact on student learning and engagement.
Kristy’s acknowledgment as an outstanding educator was as follows:
As a Health and Physical Education lecturer, Kristy provides her students with a rich and engaging online experience through the provision of activities such as at-home Physical Education practicals. Driven by a humanistic teaching philosophy, Kristy maximises her teaching presence through curriculum design to encourage students’ affective engagement with their learning. Fostering a student-staff sense of community, Kristy is able to build connections between the students and herself, the students with each other, and the students with the content. Kristy’s results speak for themselves with the units Kristy teaches having an impressive 92% average pass rate. For one unit, attrition (typically higher online) was halved even during the pandemic years. Providing her students with an outstanding and unique online experience, Kristy is a very worthy recipient of an ODLAA Award.
Founded in 1973, the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA) is an international professional association dedicated to the advancement of research, practice, and support of education across time and space. ODLAA welcomes new members, for further details please go to: https://odlaa.org/membership/
In receiving this National Open and Distance Learning Award, Kristy continues the proud tradition of UNE being a leader in the field of open and distance education.