2019 Nan Tien Institute
Nan Tien Institute
Content for FGS Consortium Newsletter
Following the Fo Guang Shan Consortium we have been working on a number of initiatives relevant to strengthening collaboration across the Consortium. These involve on-line learning linked to the FGS Education Cloud, further developments embedding Contemplative Pedagogy into our teaching and the move into teaching undergraduate degrees. More details on each of these are provided below.
FGS Education Cloud
Nan Tien hosted a working party from Nanhua University to begin collaboration on the FGS Education Cloud. Nan Tien has provided FGS with a Moodle design shell for use in creating digital subjects for online delivery of education to students. The FGS Consortium has also been provided with access to a completed Moodle subject as a demonstration of how Nan Tien have applied best practices for online education.
Nan Tien and University of the West are having virtual meetings to collaborate in online learning development. University of the West’s mandate for inclusion of diversity within online learning systems design will lead the way in this area of development for the FGS Education Cloud. Nan Tien will also explore co-creation and co-teaching of English language online subjects with UWest.
Alongside continuing online subject development, Nan Tien are entering the 2nd phase of development which entails preparing the Institute’s governance, policies, procedures and practices to receive online students (who may never physically attend the campus) and to provide an excellent student experience of online study.
Nan Tien are also now preparing academic and teacher support procedures and materials to ensure that Nan Tien’s online teaching workforce is prepared to deliver an excellent student online experience.
Nan Tien will share our Moodle development experience, project management frameworks, academic content development experience and Institute and staff support guidelines with FGS Consortium members to facilitate and effectively streamline the development process.
Working closely together with the consortium will also enable some streamlining of transition of students between institutions.
Contemplative Pedagogy
Nan Tien continues to embed Contemplative Pedagogy and practices within both intensive study and online learning. Research has commenced into the Taxonomy of Contemplative Education which was demonstrated at the FGS Consortium meeting in November 2018. Three (3) PhD projects are in process to study the experiences and outcomes for students of a contemplative education in an online environment at Nan Tien.
Nan Tien are among the first accredited education institutions to use contemplative practices within higher education.
As a result of the FGS Consortium meetings in 2018, Nan Tien have collaborated with the Dharma Gate Buddhist College in Budapest to lodge an application for EU Erasmus funding which, if approved, will enable a teaching and student exchange program between Institutions.
New Degree Development
NTI is close to launching its first undergraduate degrees. This will be a major milestone for NTI. It will enable us to connect more closely to our local high schools and our community more generally. It will also allow closer links with other members of the FGS Consortium by opening up the opportunity for two plus two arrangements with partners.
Our Bachelor of Business in Accountancy has been accredited by the Australian Government and an agreement to offer it in Sydney with an experienced education provider is almost complete. It is expected that most students in this degree will be international students from a range of countries.
NTI academic staff have been working hard for quite some time developing a Bachelor of Human Services with specialisations in aging, mental health and disability services. These three areas are some of the most important social issues in Australia. The documentation is with the Australian Government for accreditation.
We expect to launch both these programs in 2020.
Bill Lovegrove
President
Nan Tien Institute