I had the privilege of attending workshops and the official launch of the YAW CRC in Melbourne on the 9th and 10th December, 2011 with UniSA colleagues Annie Campbell, Sue Luckman and Barbara Spears. I also caught up with co-researcher, Pammi Raghavendra from Flinders University and met Stefan Schutt from Victoria University, who is doing some fabulous work using digital technologies with young people who have Asperger’s Syndrome.

Following is a photo I took of the Indigenous Hip Hop dancers who performed at the CRC workshop held at the State Library of Victoria on the 9th December:

Young and Well CRC gathering at the State Library of Victoria on the 9th December 2011

You can view more photos from the workshop and the launch the following day via the YAW CRC Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/yawcrc

We subsequently heard that the Sea Shepherd crew had gone to the aid of one of their scout ships, the Brigitte Bardot, which was badly damaged in the Southern Ocean while pursuing a Japanese factory vessel on the 30th December.

You can read the full story in  the Australian article, “Sea Shepherd anti-whaling ship damaged by rogue wave in Southern Ocean“  posted online on the 30th December.

The conference theme for ASCILITE this year was Changing Demands, Changing Directions, with three sub-themes: equity of experience; engagement; and evidence-based practice. The conference was preceded by workshops on the 4th December followed by the opening of the conference on the 5th December 2011. Professor Gilly Salmon, former Executive Director of the Australian Digital Futures Institute (University of Southern Queensland) presented an inspiring opening address.

Water side view from my hotel room at the Wrestpoint Casino Hotel, venue for the 2011 ASCILITE conference, Hobart

I co-authored two papers with two of my PhD students. The first paper, titled “Facilitating the ability of graduates to articulate their employability skills through the use of a 3D virtual learning environment“, was co-authored with Frederick Stokes-Thompson (PhD candidate) and Sheila Scutter who is also a co-supervisor of Frederick’s PhD research.

I presented the second paper on behalf of my PhD student, Amal Hanna. This paper, based on one chapter of Amal’s thesis, is titled ” Bridging the gap between OER initiative objectives and OER user needs in higher education” and presents a framework for considering the differences between open access and open content educational resources.

I also had the pleasure of participating in a lively panel presentation with Sue Gregory, Scott Diener, Brent Gregory, Suku Sinnappan, Lisa Jacka titled Myth busting education in a virtual world – changing demands and directions. You can download the presentation from the ASCILITE site if you are interested in viewing our Powerpoint show.

Sue and Brent did a wonderful job presented another paper on virtual worlds, of which I was one of several co-authors, titled How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?

I finally got to meet my ASCILITE mentee, Maria Spies, who presented a very well attend paper title Engaging the online learner: Student reactions to the use of audio podcasts in off campus courses and also co-presented with me at the Community Mentors’ Symposium.

The conference theme was Researching Across Boundaries and our paper titled “Traditional and new media influences on attitudes to higher education participation in Adelaide’s northern suburbs”, focused on research we are undertaking in South Australia, which is exploring the influence of both traditional and digital media on the higher education aspirations and attitudes of high school students in the northern suburbs. The findings from our research will be used to help inform strategies that can positively impact upon the educational aspirations and attitudes of school-leavers from Adelaide’s northern suburbs. The findings will be applicable to students from other socio-economically disadvantaged populations.

Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart - venue for the 2011 AARE conference

Training of local Education Department staff in Limpop Province

While in Limpopo Province we supervised the newly trained Education Department staff testing children in the schools including Letaba Special School shown in the photo below.

Conducting testing in Letaba Special School

I had to fly back to Australia after the Limpopo leg of the journey, but the rest of the team visited Kruger National Park before driving back to Gauteng Province to continue training of local staff who are doing the testing of children. The team supervised testing of children in participation schools in Lenasia, including children attending Jiswa Special School.

Testing children at Jiswa Special School in Lenasia

Rolda Rapotu (Limpopo) and I presented a co-authored paper on the work we are undertaking in special schools in the Limpopo Province at the 8th World Assembly of Disabled People’s International (DPI) in Durban, South Africa from the 10th to the 13th October 2011.

The conference was held at the Inkhosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Center (DURBAN ICC) and included the Opening Plenary sessions on the first day, followed by two days of parallel working groups and  a final closing plenary session on the  13th October.

The conference was well attended with a range of papers addressing the UN Convention on the Right’s of Persons with Disability. Our paper focused on strategies for addressing Millennium Development Goals through the use of accessible information and communication technologies in South African special schools.

Opening Ceremony at the DPI Assembly, Durban on the 10th October, 2011

UniSA virtual learning expert Dr Denise Wood and a team of international researchers are undertaking research in South Africa focusing on strategies for improving learning outcomes for children in developing countries.

Dr Wood and members of the research team including Professor Noel Lindsay from the University of Adelaide and Charles Morris (UniSA contract programmer) have recently returned from a follow-up visit to South Africa’s Limpopo and Gauteng provinces.

Dr Wood said the research team, which also includes Associate Professor Sheila Scutter from James Cook University, Dr Charles Kivunja from the University of New England and Janyth Ussery from Virtual Helping Hands Inc in the US, is undertaking a pilot study to measure the impact of 3D virtual learning environments on learning outcomes, learner motivation, creativity and the self-esteem of grade four learners from socially disadvantaged schools as well as special schools in South Africa.

Read more

You can download the interview from here: rph-29072011

This was the first stage of a planned larger study, which would see the work we are undertaking in South Africa extended to remote rural locations of Uganda to assist and extend multigrade approaches to improving educational outcomes for children from socially disadvantaged areas. We are hoping to implement trials of the approach using low thresholod tablet technologies in schools located on Buvuma Island early next year if we are able to attract the required funding.

This was a follow up to our visit in January. The main purpose of this visit was to install the computers donated by SANZAF and our 3DVLE platform, and conduct teacher training. We had excellent attendance at the training sessions, even though it was school break for the teachers and children. As the photos below show, teachers were highly engaged by the learning platform.

Teacher training in Gauteng Province, Johannesburg

Presentations about the project by Dr Denise Wood and Professor Noel Lindsay

A press conference held in Lenasia during our visit was well attended by senior officials from the Gauteng Province Department of Education, Esquire Technologies and several other VIP guests including the local media.

Press conference held at the Impala School in Lenasia

Here are some stories that appeared in the media during our visit:

3D learning in South Africa. Published by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council on the 12^th, July, 2011. http://www.altc.edu.au/July2011-south-africa

Gauteng, Limpopo teach in 3D. Article published 18^th July, 2011 in IT Web Open Source by journalist Farzana Rasool describing our research in Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces, South Africa: http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45444:gauteng-limpopo-teach-in-3d&catid=203

SANZAF, Siyafunda CTC and Esquire Technologies major role players in bringing 3d virtual learning to Gauteng. Article published by Yusuf in LENZINFO: Lenasia’s Very Own Website on 7^th July, 2011. http://www.lenzinfo.co.za/?p=2471

Esquire partners in 3D virtual learning trial. Article about our 3D virtual learning project published via Esquire Technologies South African website, 25^th July, 2011. http://companies.mybroadband.co.za/esquire/2011/07/25/esquire-partners-in-3d-virtual-learning-trial/

Leading-edge 3D virtual learning technologies. Press release posted to The Big Picture, The Fine Print blog of film maker Alison Richards, 13^th July 2011. http://alisonrichards.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/leading-edge-3d-virtual-learning-technologies/

We will be returning in October to conduct baseline testing of the children and then implementation of our three year longitudinal study during which time we will be tracking learner improvements in literacy, numeracy, life skills, economic management, self-efficacy, self-esteem and creativity.