Dana Bui

How Married at First Sight is normalising gender hierarchy A heated MAFS exchange reveals how “masculine energy” talk disguises power and submission as human nature.

I would pay good money to see a panel of academics analyse the behaviour on MAFS and its impact on society.

The Educational Designer Beyond “We love AI”: Exploring the nuances of AI in teaching and learning - This blog post challenges the simplistic narrative of “We love AI” in education by exploring the complex realities of AI integration. It highlights the need for AI literacy among students to prevent…

AI directs us to emulate what already exists. Unless you prompt for feedback that guides your writing in a unique, innovative and nuanced way, the feedback will often direct you to use the same tepid language that AI uses and the same bog-standard structure. #AIinEDI #EdTech #EduSky

The Educational Designer Efficient rubric creation: AI generated rubrics and rewriting tips - Rubric creation requires alignment with learning outcomes, clear criteria, and unbiased grading descriptors. AI generated rubrics can streamline initial rubric drafts, saving valuable time and…

Using AI to create a rubric (as a basic rubric that is revised/contextualised by educators) is actually better than generic rubrics. At least AI can generate a rubric that is aligned to the task and the outcomes. A generic rubric won't be aligned and will be unfit for purpose. #EduSky #AcademicSky

The Educational Designer Demystifying learning outcomes: What they are and how to write them - This guide breaks down the essential components of learning outcomes and explains how to align them with teaching activities and assessments through constructive alignment. Learn how to write…

Academia loves to make things sound complex and intellectual. That's the opposite of what learning outcomes should be. They should be clear, direct and simple, using disciplinary concepts meaningfully. #AcademicSky #InstructionalDesign #EduSky

Scaffolding reflection: Guiding students toward metacognitive learning and self evaluation Scaffolding reflection helps students move from surface-level diary writing to deep metacognitive awareness. By guiding learners through structured prompts, modelling reflective thinking, and consistently embedding reflection, educators create supportive frameworks that foster self-regulation, critical thinking, and lifelong learning.

To push students towards metacognition, we need first to ask them questions that consider the steps that led to the event, the process of the event, and its impact or aftermath.

The Educational Designer Working efficiently, effectively and maintaining boundaries - This guide shares practical strategies for working more efficiently and maintaining healthy work-life boundaries as an educator. Learn how to work iteratively, set clear communication expectations,…

Something not mentioned in this post is maintaining mental boundaries. Don't let toxic colleagues weigh on your mind when you're not at work. Notice the thought, then choose different ones. Ruminate on their toxic behaviour during work time instead. Get paid for it. #MentalHealth

That’s a good way of framing it, and I can see the confusion. At least everyone has the same grace period. Ours is at the discretion of the educator, which leads to a lack of equity across the disciplines.

Our faculty has moved to this after a decade of ‘you must have x word count’. The absolute relief for educators to move away from over assessment based on word counts was immense.

Yesssss! We’ve moved to a standard ‘all assessments must have a standard submission time of 11:55pm local time’ across the whole institution. 😬😬😬😬 This does not allow for technical support at all.

The Educational Designer Designing assessments that support student mental health: practical approaches for educators - Discover how thoughtful assessment design can significantly reduce student stress and improve mental health outcomes in university courses. This guide explores the power of workload management,…

Our expectations of students may be higher than ourselves: How many educators are frantically trying to finalise course changes just before the LMS site opens to students? If the assessment is due at midnight and they are one hour late, grade with empathy. #AcademicSky #MentalHealth

The Educational Designer Empowering students with skills for safe and ethical AI use - This post discusses why explicit digital literacy and ethical AI skills must be built into tertiary education, otherwise leaving them unprepared and exposed to risk. I provide practical, actionable…

Embed reflective tasks in the process so that students articulate how they have used AI, how it assisted them and even how it hindered their process. We don't talk enough about how AI can actually be more time-consuming and often disruptive in the writing process. #EduSky #EdTech #AIinEdu

The Educational Designer Tangible ways to create inclusive learning environments: Simple strategies for meaningful change - Simple choices can make every student feel valued, respected, and supported and help move towards a more inclusive classroom. In this guide, discover tangible strategies like authentic land…

Sharing pronouns, particularly as a cisgender woman, helps to make those around me feel safe. In the same way that seeing a rainbow flag makes me feel safe as a queer woman, seeing pronouns on someone's profile helps people feel safe sharing theirs. #UDL #EduSky #AcademicSky

Sign the Petition Create an Australian Long Weekend: Move the Public Holiday from Jan 26

Let's have a date we can all celebrate together.

The Educational Designer Step-by-step: Building impactful branching scenarios - Discover how to create interactive, “choose your own adventure” style branching scenarios that elevate student engagement and critical thinking in higher education. This guide explains the practical…

Branching scenarios make for great assessments: show the implications of the choice, ask questions that allow the student to unpack those implications. Playing with H5P as a way to capture the students' rationale as they progress through the branching scenario. #EduSky #AcademicSky #EdTech

The Educational Designer Two common problems working with rubrics - This article explores two common problems with rubrics, namely, subjective marking and unclear grade distinctions. It offers practical solutions like improving inter-rater reliability, refining grade…

Never be afraid to cut criteria; the quickest way to do so is to ask: Does this align with my learning outcomes? It's amazing how we put in all this effort to create constructively aligned assessments, yet we end up with criteria that are just 'content' and 'analysis'. #EduSky #AcademicSky

You can't solve the scroll of death with accordions: this buries critical information and introduces click fatigue. If there is too much information, design the pages in content-based chunks with plenty of white space and images. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. #elearning

💯 It’s almost like a competition to be the most despicable and hated person. It gets more attention. 😬

It’s like people are doubling down on sucking. Oh, you think you suck? I can beat that.

This TikTok star sharing Australian animal stories doesn’t exist – it’s AI Blakface The ‘Bush Legend’ is bringing us short videos of an Aboriginal person teaching us about native animals. But he isn’t real.

“We are seeing the rise of an AI Blakface that is utilised with ease thanks to the availability and prevalence of AI. Non-Indigenous people and entities are able to create Indigenous personas through AI, often grounded in stereotypical representations that both amalgamate and appropriate cultures.”

I also keep copies of achievements, recommendations, 'thank you' emails, etc during all my jobs. Once you've left, you can't access the email for the one crowning statement of working with you that you wanted for your CV. #LTHEChat

The Educational Designer Your self-care plan: the teaching tool you're probably forgetting - Teaching is emotionally demanding, and without a self-care plan, burnout can creep in fast. This guide helps educators understand the difference between wellbeing and mental health and create a…

When you're running on empty, you can't have the same expectations for yourself. Sometimes, self-care can be as simple as putting on a clean shirt. #EduSky #AcademicSky #MentalHealth

An Accurate Organizational Chart of Your University Our 20th most-read article of 2025. - - -In accordance with our informal tradition of updating documents every thirty years, whether they need it ...

I need someone to create an Australian version of this. At least we have retained our EDI policies. I very much appreciate “a vague notion of graduate employability that hasn’t changed since the Cold War.”

Hacktivist deletes white supremacist websites live onstage during hacker conference | TechCrunch A hacker known as Martha Root broke in and deleted three white supremacist websites at the end of a talk during the annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress in Germany.

I need more great news stories like this in my life.

When you receive feedback and choose not to enact it, then continue to receive the same feedback time and time again… perhaps reconsider complaining about the people giving the feedback and consider enacting the feedback instead. It’s a systematic pattern that you should probably pay attention to.

The jigsaw activity: cooperation, accountability and diverse perspectives The jigsaw activity is an educational approach that fosters collaboration and diverse perspectives. The activity's design promotes interdependence and accountability, as each student's contribution is critical to the group's overall understanding.

The jigsaw activity is one of my favourite educational strategies for getting a quick overview of a complex topic and encouraging less coasting in activities. #EduSky #EdChat

MHFA Guides for Traumatic Events - Responding to the Bondi terror attacks

Great advice:
• Do not interrupt them to share your own feelings and experiences
• Do not compare their experience of trauma with anyone else's
• Do not minimise their experience, e.g. "It could have been worse"
• Do not offer religious solace by saying things like "God has reasons"

It’s amazing when something that was the cornerstone of higher education (discussion) is difficult to organise and doesn’t get prioritised. I’d love to return to the days when scholars spent time at University discussing and debating simply because they were passionate.

Student norms and expectations: Why can't they just do it the way I want them to? - The Educational Designer This blog explores how student norms vary based on culture, technology, and individual needs, and offers strategies for educators to challenge outdated norms, set clear expectations, and adapt…

It’s amazing how often make assumptions about student without actually speaking to them. Assumptions that are often based on our own experiences in life, and likely completely disconnected from theirs. #UDL #EduSky

Love it. Sometimes I use the ‘do you want me to listen so you feel heard, or listen to give advice’. It’s amazing how often people just want to be heard but we usually launch into giving advice.

Agree! Sometimes it seems people in HE are allergic to validating the experience of others. Not being listened to can make people feel like they are not valued (which results in isolation and departure).