The online presence of teaching and learning within Australian university websites

Teaching and Learning as a form of scholarship has struggled for recognition in universities, with one of the biggest hurdles being visibility. As the Internet is now one of the primary sources of visibility, this study examines how Australia’s 39 universities present their teaching and learning profiles online. The purpose was to examine the aspects of teaching and learning that were visible and those which were not, highlighting the areas of scholarship that may require enhanced focus. The study used a scoring system of 15 primary criteria drawn from the literature, in conjunction with common teaching and learning website elements as ascertained from a brief study of 20 websites. The results revealed that while certain teaching and learning aspects such as professional development and awards are consistently presented across the Australian tertiary sector online, other aspects such as scholarship of teaching and learning research foci and external impact are not generally visible on Australian university websites.