We are pleased to announce the Virtual Excursions Australia conference reVEAlon Tuesday 8 December. reVEAl will be FREE to all presenters and delegates.
ACMI in Victoria and the Australian Museum in NSW will be hosting the reVEAl. We will have presenters and delegates in each venue connected with via video conference. People can also dial into a single session or the whole conference.
The day is being designed to be fun, interactive and to provide networking opportunities for both teachers and content providers. There will be a variety of short sessions to provide something for everyone.
Content Provider Stream
9:15am – 9:30am Arrival & registration
9:30am – 9:45am reVEAl welcome
9:45am – 10:00am Value of video conferencing for cultural institutions
10:00am – 10.15am Techniques in presenting to camera
10:15am – 10:45am Tech talk
Morning Tea
11:30am – 11:45am How to help schools get comfortable with their equipment
11:45am – 12:15pm Content provider experiences (the good, bad & ugly)
12:15pm – 12:30pm Future directions all in discussion for content providers
Lunch
School Showcase
2:00pm – 2:15pm reVEAl welcome
2:15pm – 2:30pm The value of video conferencing for schools
2:30pm – 2:45pm Key Learning Area Experiences: STEM
2:45pm – 3:00pm Key Learning Area Experiences: Arts & Culture
Afternoon Tea
4:00pm – 4:15pm Key Learning Area Experiences: History
4:15pm – 4:30pm Key Learning Area Experiences: Sports & more
4:30pm – 4:40pm Booking platforms in Australia
4:40pm – 5:00pm Worldview
5:00pm – 5:30pm Networking
Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education shares insights from his amazing journey through the United States
Earlier this year, Ben Newsome of Fizzics Education travelled for seven weeks in the United States to investigate the use of videoconferencing in science education. Visiting 16 science centres, museums, zoos, aquariums and school districts across North America as a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship. Ben met with many distance educators who shared insights and techniques on how to produce outstanding science & technology video conferencing lessons for remote learners.
Among Ben’s findings were:
Learning how to incorporate animated games & live dissections into marine biology video conferences at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Los Angeles.
Visiting Alaska to learn techniques in remotely teaching ecology at the Alaska SeaLife Center and Alaska Zoo
Darin Trobaugh from Alaska Sea Life Center
Touring the Canadian badlands to learn how palaeontology is taught via IVC at the Royal Tyrrell Museum
Speaking with the talented team at the Centre for Interactive Learning & Collaboration in Indianapolis & the Central New York Regional Information Center on video conferencing installation and best practices
Immersion in the simulated learning environments at Rochester Challenger Learning Center and the Bathysphere Underwater Biological Laboratory plus spending time with the distance educators at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the International Spy Museum, Nina Mason Pulliam Ecolab and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Complex
Touring Washington DC galleries & museums offered by the Smithsonian Institution
Discovering robotic video conferencing technologies being used at the New York Hall of Science.
Learning how social disadvantage and isolation can be overcome through the use of collaborative technologies
‘Vinnie cam’ from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Ben met many video conferencing content providers at the Center for Puppetry Arts as well as leaders of the educational video conferencing community at the International Society for Technology for Education conference in Atlanta.
Following his Churchill Fellowship tour Ben has made many recommendations to improve the delivery of videoconferencing in Australia. These include that professional development in collaborative technologies needs to be ongoing in the school system and should be embedded into pre-service teaching courses at Universities. Video conferencing should wherever possible be incorporated into all mainstream teaching & learning sequences to enrich the K – 12 curriculum, particularly as significant investment has already been made to install H.323 systems in over 3000 Australian schools.
Ben also recommends that where possible mobile H.323 systems also be installed into all schools, libraries, hospitals, retirement homes & juvenile justice sites if funding was available, to ensure better access to educational experiences from around the world regardless of key learning area.
SciFest is a video conferencing festival promoting science and technology. SciFest links up with National Science week and in 2013 we aim to be the biggest video conferencing festival in Australia.
National Science Week is an annual celebration of science in Australia. Join in to enjoy and explore the wonders and benefits of science. The 2013 National Science Week theme for schools is A Century of Australian Science. You can find more National Science week events on the website at www.scienceweek.net.au/
There will be a variety of activities for students and teachers across the 5 day video conferencing festival. This means there will be something to interest every student. See below for some of the great sessions available:
SciFest – Meet the Experts
Date: 5 – 9 August 14:00
Australian Museum is bringing our scientists to you! Meet the Experts aims to provide quality science education and research resources. This is your chance to come face to face with an Australian Scientist
SciFest: Creative chemistry workshop for primary students
Date: 5 August 12.00 & 14.00
Designed to cover a broad range of chemical concepts that is accessible to primary students.- kitchen chemistry found at home- physical changes vs. chemical reactions
SciFest: K – 2 Science in Art
Date: 5 August 9:30am & 10.30am
Explore chemistry in colourful art creations you can make in your class! Your class participates in a number of activities as a series of group activities run in class
SciFest: Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development
Date: 5 August 15:30
The presenter will cover simple ways to demonstrate forces, light, sound and chemistry in your primary classroom. A strong focus is on using cheap materials easily obtainable materials
SciFest – Bugwise
Date: 6 & 7 August Time: 10:00, Date: 8 August Time: 13.00
Bugwise explores the exciting and diverse world of invertebrates. Students will learn how to identify common groups of invertebrates and why they are important.
06Aug
SciFest – Explosive Geology
Date: 6 & 7 August Time: 11:30
The Video conference will look at the dynamic earth forming processes. There will be explosive experiments demonstrated.
SciFest – Life in Freshwater
Date 6 August Time: 13:00, Date: 8 August Time: 11.30
Overview: Overview: Life in Freshwater provides a glimpse into life in freshwater. You will find out how to use water quality collecting and testing equipment and we will look how we impact our water ways and w…
SciFest: Light & Colour Show
Date: 6 August Time: 09:30, 10:30 &12:00
Students learn about properties of light in this fun interactive science show- Investigate rainbows using the visible light spectrum, plus learn about colour addition and subtraction.
SciFest – Snail, Slugs and Slime
Date: 7 August Time: 13:00, Date: 8 August Time: 10.00
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.
SciFest – The Wonderful World of Fishing
Date: 9 August Time: 11:00
Learn all about professional fishing and the NSW seafood industry from those who know it best. Join 4th generation Sydney fisherman Richie Bagnato and OceanWatch Chairman Brad Warren
SciFest: Science of Sound
Date 9 August Time: 09:30, 10.30
What do sound waves look like? Do soundwaves always travel at the same speed? How does the Doppler effect work? What is resonance? How does a soundwave change with pitch and increasing volume?
SciFest Science Week Slam – narrative writing with Paul Stafford
Date 16 August Time: 09:30 & 11.00
Use science as a springboard for ideas to write fast, ferocious and fun narratives. The Scattered Bones team with author and literacy consultant Paul Stafford will present a one-off workshop
SciFest topics and programs will vary over the 5 day to provide flexibility. Bookings are available at DART connections
SciFest event is proudly supported by Virtual Excursions Australia.
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 (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:
