Janene Sproul

As part of 2025 International Open Access Week activities, Murdoch University Library hosted a panel discussion on the OA week theme of "Who owns our knowledge?"

Panellists shared their expertise and insights in areas prompted by the theme, including open access publishing, integrating Indigenous knowledges, social construction of knowledge, and creative commons licensing.

The resulting discussion was a fascinating exploration of the theme, highlighting the value of sharing perspectives across disciplines and collaboration with other University areas. The webinar recording allows further reflection on the creation and sharing of knowledge.

People diagnosed with sarcoma and their carers often face significant unmet information needs that adversely affect their quality of life. A contributing factor is the limited availability of accessible, high-quality online information. This study aimed to determine the information needs of people affected by sarcoma from the perspectives of people with sarcoma, carers and healthcare professionals, to inform the development of web-based resources. People with sarcoma (n = 18), carers (n = 11), bereaved carers (n = 8) and healthcare professionals (n = 22) participated in interviews or focus groups (total N = 59). Data were analysed thematically. Nine themes were identified: “Accessing Useful Information About Diagnosis and Treatment”; “Learning to live with Sarcoma”; “Gaining Access to Psychosocial Support”; “Connecting with the Sarcoma Community”, “Obtaining Financial Support”; “Carer Self-Care”; “Facilitating Support for Family”; “Understanding Palliative Care”; and “Preparing for Bereavement and Coping After Death”. Findings support the development of a dedicated sarcoma website as a key step towards addressing their unmet needs. People with sarcoma and their carers highlighted that such a resource would not only improve access to reliable sarcoma-specific information, but also create opportunities for connection and shared experiences among individuals and families affected by sarcoma.

Nature links for students have gained increased attention, partially due to their mental health benefits. Connecting with nature in Perth, Western Australia, ranges from manicured lawns, native gardens, to remnant bushland. This project was co-designed with university students and analysed the reflections of members of a University Community Garden following Covid.

Interviews with 8 participants revealed that the University Community Garden had a large role in maintaining their mental health during tertiary study. The work and time investment of student participants in the Community Garden was voluntary (gained no financial or University credit). When considering the usual weekly activities, the Community Garden with nearby bushland was identified as a place of 'acceptance', 'no failure', 'regular activities' and 'no judgment'. Reflections on Covid-enforced time away were overwhelmingly negative including 'isolation', 'desperately unhappy' and 'I wanted to drop out'.

Students identified 'creatively generative' activities and community interactions as pivotal to their positive experiences in the garden. These facilitated support for student mental health and indirectly affected successful completion of enrolled units. The high value of space identified as different from normal classrooms and 'quiet', highlighted characteristics aligned with universal design for learning (UDL) principles and inclusive education.

Technological developments allow students to access visual information from digital devices as small as phones or as large as whiteboards. Education technology research and policy typically address the software product, yet little research has focused on optimal viewing parameters or the impact it has on student users. Students with light sensitivity (migraine, concussion) potentially face a barrier with e-learning activities in the classroom. This review aimed to identify points of convergence and inconsistency across various literature sources containing guidelines for digital media use by students in schools. Inconsistencies were found between academic, manufacturer and school guidelines. Six parameters were identified for modification on behalf of students with light sensitivity relating to image colour, image flash frequency, duration of viewing, luminance and environmental lighting – both natural and artificial. The findings highlight the need for revision of school policies regarding digital learning environments and awareness raising to support inclusive access and use by students with light sensitivity.

Visual light hyper-sensitivity (VLH) is a sensory state in which light causes an abnormal reaction leading to intermittent or consistent discomfort, nausea, migraine and even seizure. Technological development has encouraged digital media-rich classrooms, altering the way in which visual information is accessed by students from traditional light reflective tools to light emitting devices. The possibility exists that this increase in light exposure within our classrooms is an invisible dis-abling mechanism for many students, decreasing cognitive ability and increasing discomfort. Using the perspective of Vygotsky’s theory of defectology, a model is presented that describes a unique group of students with VLH and the role of accommodations to support their active participation in learning. A transformative paradigm incorporating a mixed method approach is utilised to examine policy and practices related to the frequency of digital classroom usage and the accommodations made for students with VLH within schools. A systematic review of academic literature, Australian education documents, manufacture and broadcast guidelines regarding digital media use for students with VLH identified a gap in policy and lack of awareness in practice but also highlighted six common parameters as reasonable adjustments for the classroom. The quantitative component used data from online surveys of 95 current students and 47 parents to calculate the total digital media used for educational purposes (minutes/day), digital devices used, and subject area usage of digital media. The qualitative component triangulated data from interviews with three groups of invested participants: six past students, five parents and five teachers to explore trends in digital media use and commonly used accommodations for students with VLH. The study found that many students spend at least half of their class time using light emitting digital media devices. The technological advances and changes in the material culture of our classrooms is having a direct impact on students with VLH. This is further complicated by the incorporation of online assessment within our schools. The researcher calls for transformative change in digital classrooms by adopting design guidelines for usage and accommodation practices that enable, rather than dis-able, active participation of students with VLH.

Digital media is increasingly used in classrooms around the globe, however little data are available on daily educational digital media use in schools within Australia. Screened devices accessed for learning activities by students continue to increase in number and range including interactive whiteboards, iPads and phones. Technological tools used for learning activities in schools have altered from light reflective (paper based) to light emitting (digital media) devices Although educational research has demonstrated the positive influence of digital media in learning environments little recognition of medical evidence based research has been incorporated into established inclusive pedagogy to support those students who are adversely affected students. This research is part of a larger study investigating screentime in classrooms and accommodations for students with light sensitivity. Two hundred high school students participated in this study that captured digital media use over a school day in Western Australia. The study was modelled on the 2007 Media and Society Research Project survey. At the end of a single day students recalled the type of digital media devices used in each lesson, duration by fraction of each lesson, and online homework completed after school hours. Student diaries used school timetables for time period segmentation throughout the day, as segmentation improves recall. Findings revealed that the most frequently used digital media device in the classroom was the Interactive whiteboard (69% of classes) and ‘total digital media’ duration ranged from 1 - 9 hours per day which included ‘in school’ and ‘home’ (range: 0 – 4 hours). Subject area use of digital media ranged from information technology/computer science (92% of classtime) to other/ home economics (0%). Science, Maths, English and HASS were all above 50%. For many participants, laptop and interactive whiteboard use was simultaneous, as indicated by entire class duration of both devices. Interviews with parents, teachers and students (who have graduated from high school) provide details of digital media duration, access and accommodations. For example, the daily need for individual cost/benefit analysis regarding school attendance for a student with chronic migraine. The relatively high screentime reported in most secondary school subjects places constraints on the learning of students with light sensitivity. While the benefits of educational digital media use have been established, effective guidelines for its use within schools is limited. The research points to the need for policies to ensure the development of inclusive practice accommodations.

Technology-rich school classrooms incorporate digital media in the form of computers and interactive whiteboards into the visual learning environment. Whilst evidence-based research shows use of technology improves academic outcomes for high school students in general, there are limited data available on the consequences of digital media use for high school students with migraine. This article highlights the historical issues with light-emitting media, the physical parameters that are changed by adoption of these digital media into the classroom and some of the adverse effects caused by visual light stimulation. The article concludes by calling for further social research to better understand adjustments needed by students with migraine in the digital media classroom, and the policies needed to support image parameter guidelines for schools. In this article, the term visual light sensitivity refers to any student’s abnormal sensitivity to optically sighted light leading to negative responses, including that of migraine.