Category: Events

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Professional Development

Meet Virtual Excursions Australia content providers in a series of teacher Professional Development video conferences on Monday 15 July. These Professional Development sessions connect you with a panel of content providers. The sessions are designed to enable you to ask your questions about video conferencing content and technology.

These Professional Development sessions are being run as a follow up from the ITEC 2013 being held on 10 & 11 July.  ITEC 2013 will feature national and international educators, innovators, researchers and industry leaders in the field of interactive and real-time technologies and techniques. Presentations will focus on technologies and programs that facilitate the delivery of rich content and the sharing of expertise and experiences across the network and directly into places of learning. See the full ITEC 2013 program.

 

Members of Virtual Excursions Australia
Members of Virtual Excursions Australia (c) Opera Australia

 

During these 45 minute sessions you will join members of Virtual Excursions Australia to share your experiences with video conferences, tell us how we can better meet the needs of your students or ask us questions about our content or technical issues.

On Monday 15 July there are sessions throughout the day including:

All these session are availablenow on the DART connections website.

This event is proudly supported by Virtual Excursions Australia.

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ITEC 2013 program

ITEC 2013 features national and international educators, innovators, researchers and industry leaders in the field of interactive and real-time technologies and techniques. Presentations focus on technologies and programs that facilitate the delivery of rich content and the sharing of expertise and experiences across the network and directly into places of learning.

Keynote Speakers include:

Dr Kate Cornick

Kate Cornick is the General Manager, Health and Education at NBN Co, the company rolling out the National Broadband Network. In this role Kate is working with the health and education sectors to drive adoption of broadband applications and services that will result in improved services to consumers. From 2009-2012, Kate was the inaugural Executive Director of the Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) – an interdisciplinary research institute established at the University of Melbourne focused on broadband applications, including in health and education.

 

Graham Smith

Graham Smith has been inventing and exploring new forms of telepresence, robotic, virtual reality and media technologies since the early 1980’s as both a university researcher, entrepreneur and artist. From 1992 to 1996 he directed the VRAAP program (Virtual Reality Artist Access Program) at the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto which explored the effects virtual technologies may have on society.

 

Anita Kocsis

Anita Kocsis is Head of Design, Society and Culture in the Faculty of Design and Co Director of the Design Factory at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Anita’s creative, commercial and academic achievement spans a design and technology nexus evidenced by intermedia exhibitions and launches in commercial and public Institutions. Anita’s articulation across research and teaching focuses on how design can facilitate the multilateral process of meaning construction that unfolds between industry, content providers, design & audiences.

 

Aaron E. Walsh 

Aaron E. Walsh is Director of the Immersive Education Initiative, a non-profit international consortium of universities, colleges, research institutes, consortia and companies that work together to define and develop open standards, best practices, platforms, and communities of support for virtual reality and game-based learning and training systems. In 2007 he was named one of the forty most innovative people in the Information Technology (IT) industry by Computerworld, the premier source of news and analysis for the IT industry.

 

This conference will be of interest to:

  • Content Providers, Museums, Galleries, Libraries and Cultural Institutions.
  • Schools, Teachers, and Classroom Practitioners.
  • Higher Education.
  • Government or Enterprise Business.

See the full ITEC 2013 program

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Slime Day Video Conference

We encounter Slime in our environment everyday. Some animals use slime for movement, others for protection, to catch food and to keep their skin hydrated. You will be amazed about the variety of animals that need slime to survive. We all know about snails and slugs, but have you heard of slime moulds?

Slime Mould

 

Have a look at the Hagfish one of the slimiest animals of the all

We are running video conferences for schools for Slime Day on April 9 2013. Join the Australian Museum to explore slime made by animals. You could try some kitchen chemistry to find out how you can make slime. Join Fizzics Education as they investigate the chemical properties of different slime. You can also take a journey into our waterways with Professor Pufferfish to explore the role we play in the future sustainability of marine environment in Slime doesn’t pay!

What are you going to do for Slime Day on April 9 2013?

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International Pi Day video conference

Do you know what’s special about the 14 March?

Thanks to the North American custom of writing the date backwards, 14 March looks like the circle constant Pi: 3.14

To celebrate what has become known as International Pi Day, Australian Numeracy Ambassador and mathematics comedian, Simon Pampena, is presenting a special video conference event for school children hosted at the Australian Museum.

“Pi captures all the wonders of mathematics in one simple idea. Divide the outside of a circle by its width and you’ll get a number. No matter if the circle was the size of your eye or the size of the sun, that number will always be the same,” Mr Pampena said.

“But you’ll never know what that number is exactly. It’s impossible because it goes on forever with no contraction. We have to give pi a special symbol to somehow contain its awesomeness…π”, he continued.

We will have students’ onsite at the Australian Museum and 13 schools connecting via video conferencing from across NSW. We are really excited to be able to help connect school so they can participate in this program.

The event is being held as part of the 2013 International Year of Mathematics of Planet Earth, which aims to increase public awareness of the critical utility of the mathematical sciences to solving problems of a global nature.

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Clickfest video conferencing 2012

Clickfest is an exciting initiative from education organisations across Australia. It highlights the diversity and scope of video conferences available to schools across Australia.

Now in its second year, over 20 organisations are delivering free or reduced cost events to schools from Monday 5 – Friday 30 November. Each day multiple sessions will be available on a variety of topics from content providers including:

  • Australian Ages of Dinosaurs
  • Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum
  • Australian Museum
  • CAASTRO
  • Fizzics Education
  • Literature Live
  • Powerhouse Museum
  • State Library of NSW
  • Taronga Zoo, Sydney

These sessions are being hosted by the Distance and Rural Technologies (DART).  DART connections help us by providing a booking system, technical support and marketing to teachers. They make running an event like Clickfest much easier.

Indigenous Art video conferencing at the Australian Museum

Video conferencing provides a great opportunity for schools to participate in special events and programs without leaving the classroom. Distance is no longer an obstacle.

 

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Dinosaur Day video conferencing

Dinosaur Day on Monday 5 November 2012 was a great way to start the Clickfest video conferencing month. Thousands of students dialled into a series of video conferences from across NSW. Dinosaur day had events from:

  • Australian Museum
  • Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum
  • Australian Ages of Dinosaurs
  • Taronga Zoo, Sydney
  • Literature Live

 

winny roar                                  © Australian Museum

The Australian Museum launched Dinosaur Day with Winny the Muttabuttasaurus. We had 20 school link up to celebrate and learn about dinosaurs.  It was a really great atmosphere to have so many students calling out Winny’s name and interacting with her.

Clickfest is an exciting initiative from education organisations across Australia and it highlights the diversity and scope of video conferences available to schools across.

Now in its second year, over 20 organisations are delivering free or reduced cost events to schools. These sessions are being hosted by the Distance and Rural Technologies (DART).

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Clickfest 2011

In November this year, DART Connections is hosting ‘Clickfest’: a month of free video conferencing to encourage more teachers to give it a go.

Clickfest #1Michael Hugill   © Australian Museum

The Clickfest launch at the Australian Museum was a first for new technology that provides educational experiences to regional schools. The live, interactive video conference session was simultaneously attended by regional schools located throughout Australia, including those first connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN).

The participating year five and six children from these schools loved the show, featuring Winny the dinosaur from the Australian Museum, Cogs the Robot from the Powerhouse Museum and Tasmanian Devil researcher Dr Kathy Belov. Each school got to ask several questions and play an important part in the excitement of this event.

Chris Hancock, CEO of AARNet said, “This is an excellent example of how high capacity broadband services can revolutionise the learning experience. Clickfest will connect students in regional communities to iconic Australian institutions as part of their daily classroom activities. The regular use of real time video collaboration on this scale is the bright future of school education, enabling students to learn from Australia’s top talent without leaving the classroom.”

The schools included were:

  • Presbyterian Ladies College (Armidale, NSW)
  • The Cathedral School (Townsville, QLD)
  • Willunga High School (SA)
  • Circular Head Christian School (Smithtown, TAS)
  • Bees Creek Primary School (NT).

We’re excited to be participating in the Clickfest Video Conferencing Festival with over 30 other organisation offering free video conferences for schools.

Check out the new and exciting shows and events, all provided at no charge thanks to the NSW State Government. To find out more or to book into a session, go to DARTconnections and have a look at the amazing events on offer

It is a really exciting initiative to get teachers and students to give video conferencing a go.