Abstracts

Farrell, Pauline

Executive Manager, Blended eLearning Solutions - Box Hill Institute

Designing learning spaces for the digital age (physical and virtual)

The beast is released - BHI Student Web. In 2011 Box Hill Institute launched our new student portal, StudentWeb, which integrates Moodle and Mahara ePortfolios. This systems also integrates social collaboration tools, learning disability tools and an extensive professional development for both teachers and students. BeLS staff needed to train over 800 teachers and 3,500 students in an eight week timeframe. Come and learn about projects designed to embed StudentWeb, our learning analytics and some of our challenges. We will explore the following:

GPS Learning Pathways - a blended approach to student induction
Mahara ePortfolios implementation strategies and evidence of uptake??
Moodle customisation including a centre view and social collaboration tools??
Migration tools to transfer content from Blackboard to Moodle

Mirtschin, Anne

ICT Co-ordinator - Hawkesdale P12 College, VIC

Learning practitioners learning futures, how we are and can seize the moment

Learn how a virtual, global, and culturally-blended classroom is not just a dream, it’s a reality. Listen to stories from classrooms in a small rural P12 school that is isolated culturally and geographically where innovative technology is used to engage students allowing them to connect, communicate, collaborate and create with students/classrooms across the globe. Technology is also used to teach blended and virtual classrooms at the senior end of the school to ensure students can study the subjects of their choice.

Steigler-Peters, Susi

National General Manager, Education - Telstra

What's on the horizon

Telstra Enterprise and Government launched a "quick hit" qualitative research project to record real stories about how the education landscape is changing and to ask three key questions:

In what ways are educational needs changing in Australia?
How might Telstra play a role in developing the preferred future for education?
What might be fruitful areas for the Roundtable to engage in collaborative work near term?

We conducted in-depth interviews with representatives of Australia's public, independent and Catholic schools, TAFEs, universities, education agencies, ACARA and DEEWR, and were privileged to hear some remarkable stories about the innovative work occurring in the education space. This report is a summary of the specific insights gained through those interviews and amplified by secondary research.

While there were wide-ranging views and opinions offered on the future of education, a common thread running through our interviews was a universal "call for change". As often repeated, the industrial age model of education has outlived its purpose. For those who must now complete in a new global knowledge economy, the current educational model is not meeting the needs of today's students. The question is in what ways do we change this century-old model? Our respondents were clear. It starts with the learner and their changing expectations.