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Learning Resources Policy

This is not a current document. It has been repealed and is no longer in force.

Section 1 - Overview

(1) This policy provides principles for the management of all Learning Resources, particularly those delivered by flexible teaching and learning strategies.

(2) UNE is committed to a flexible delivery strategy for its curriculum where the nature of the discipline and its pedagogy allows. The curriculum is supported by access to, and provision of library and other resources.

(3) As new technologies are introduced for curriculum delivery it is essential that staff and students are mindful of the primary requirement of accessibility by all students to the curriculum.

(4) UNE is mindful of its responsibilities to safeguard its intellectual property and that of its members from exploitation, and the necessity to comply with copyright and licence requirements where the copyright is not owned by UNE.

(5) Academic and General staff of the University need to be alert to the basic requirements and standards of curriculum delivery regardless of the mode of delivery. This assists students to make informed decisions about the units they enrol in and ensures that UNE staff are protected by appropriate management procedures from claims of inequity in the design and distribution of Learning Resources delivered as part of UNE's flexible teaching and learning strategies.

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Section 2 - Policy

Using Non-UNE Resources and Copyright

(6) Copyright Materials not owned by UNE must only be used

  1. with express permission of the copyright owner;
  2. under the terms of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth); and
  3. under the terms of UNE-subscribed full text resources and databases.

(7) Online readings copied within Part VB of the Copyright Act must be made available to students only via the Library's eReserve to ensure compliance with the licence conditions.

(8) UNE-subscribed full text resources must be made available to students only as links and not reproduced in full.

Design if UNE-Authored Learning Resources

(9) Learning Resources are provided to students in formats that are appropriate for the type of content and for the learning outcomes that are to be achieved. Decisions regarding differing output formats for different student cohorts are the responsibility of the Unit Coordinator in consultation with the Head of School.

(10) The appropriateness of the design is the responsibility of the Unit Coordinator within the guidelines or policies of the individual discipline or School and within the framework provided by this policy.

Management of Learning Resources

(11) The Head of School is responsible for ensuring that compliance with this policy and its associated policies is maintained.

(12) The Teaching and Learning Centre is responsible for the management of the Learning Resources processes and management of the Learning Content Management System.

(13) The Library, with the copyright office, is responsible for the provision and management of library resources including internet access to third party copyright material compliant with licensing and copyright requirements.

(14) The version of the Learning Resources released to students will be stored in the UNE's centralised Learning Content Management System (or in the LMSs until full rollout of the LCMS is achieved). This record (and the associated database entries) will be the official record for all management, administrative, production and legal purposes of the Learning Resources for any unit or course.

(15) Internet access to library resources including third party copyright materials will be managed by the Library via the Library web site, by the provision of permanent link mechanisms to licensed materials held on the provider's servers, and by eReserve.

Release

(16) The authorised (by the Head of School) version of the Core Learning Resources shall be managed and output via the centralised Learning Content Management System (or in the University's LMSs until full rollout of the LCMS is achieved)* and will be available to students at least two weeks prior to the start of teaching.

Format

(17) The version of UNE-authored Learning Resources submitted to the centralised Learning Content Management System must be in an editable format. Where specialised software has been used to create the file then both the 'raw' (editable) files and 'final' (ie: PDF) files should be stored. The version released to students shall generally be in an uneditable format (unless otherwise appropriate). All units of study shall include interaction and functionality provided via a UNEonline site.

Version Control

(18) Where multiple versions of UNE-authored Learning Resources are required for individual cohorts within a single unit (such as one version for on-campus and another for off-campus students), each version will have a unique Control Number for that cohort and also for that teaching period it was produced.

Consistency of information

(19) All UNE-authored Learning Resources will be consistent with University style, intellectual property, copyright and branding policies. To maintain consistency of common policy and regulatory information, style and branding the use of cascading, standardised templates is strongly encouraged by UNE.

Submission Deadlines

(20) Unit Coordinators are responsible to Heads of Schools for ensuring that Core Learning Resources are correct in all matters and submitted to the centralised Learning Content Management System (or in the University's LMSs until full rollout of the LCMS is achieved) by the nominated date for the teaching period. All published third party copyright and licensed materials required for inclusion in eReserve must be submitted by the advertised submission deadline.

Output deadline

(21) The Director of the Teaching and Learning Centre is responsible for ensuring that Learning Resources to be distributed by Australia Post and courier services and that are submitted by the submission deadline are available to UNE-enrolled students by two weeks prior to the first day of the teaching.

Web Access Portal

(22) All units of study are supported by a UNEonline site; the primary access portal for UNEonline shall be through the MyUNE web portal.

Release to Students

(23) Information on the availability of the Learning Resources, their format and access requirements, shall be provided to UNE-enrolled students at enrolment.

Core Content

(24) Learning Resources 'Core Content' must be complete and correct prior to release and comprise all the necessary resources (including textbook and library information) for a student to be able to successfully complete the unit of study. Core content may be subsequently changed after its release to students where this enhances the unit learning outcomes without changing the assessment task requirements.

Supplementary Content

(25) Additional or 'Supplementary Content' may be released via UNEonline during the teaching period. This Supplementary Content typically includes newly emerging resources since the Core Content was released (newspaper articles, media files or podcasts published during the teaching period, for example).

  1. Supplementary Content may not be used for assessment.
  2. Supplementary Content may be incorporated into Core Content the next time the unit is offered.
  3. Subject to copyright requirements, third party copyright materials in UNEonline must be offered/accessed via eReserve where appropriate.

Special Needs Students

(26) In accordance with Federal and State legislation, Core Content may be adapted and released to meet the requirements of Special Needs Students providing that these adaptations are appropriate for the content, the discipline and the learning objectives.

(27) Decisions on adaptations are the responsibility of the Unit Coordinator and Head of School based upon their own disciplinary and pedagogical expertise and upon counsel from the Student Assist office and the Academic Developers.

(28) It is not a requirement that Supplementary Content be adapted and released to meet the requirements of Special Needs Students.

Cooperative Teaching Agreements

(29) Learning Resources for Cooperative Teaching Agreements (CTA) are managed in accordance with the CTA and with the approval of the Director of the Teaching and Learning Centre.

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Section 3 - Definitions

(30) Common Policy and Regulatory Information refers to information that all students need to know. This can be regulatory information or institutional, faculty, school, or discipline information (for example, a link to the Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism Policy and the School's policy on referencing styles).

(31) Core Content comprises the minimum resources the student must engage with in order to successfully complete the assessment tasks.

(32) Learning Resources comprise the sum of both 'UNE-Authored Learning Resources' and 'Third Part Copyright and Licensed Materials' required in order to meet the assessment requirements for that unit.

(33) Supplementary Content comprises content that will enhance a student's learning or understanding. It is not content that the student must engage with in order to successfully complete the assessment tasks.

(34) Third Party Copyright and Licensed Materials comprise materials for which the copyright is held by the author or publisher (not the UNE) or obtained through a services aggregator and for which the requirements of Australian copyright law or licensing agreements with the aggregator services must be adhered to.

(35) UNE-authored Learning Resources comprise lecture notes, assignment topics, worksheet, journals and other materials where the unit coordinator or UNE will not be infringing copyright or licensing agreements by distributing said material to enrolled students.