ClickFest 2013 Program Spotlight: Powerhouse Museum

ClickFest is an annual video conferencing festival run in November each year. Clickfest highlights the diversity and scope of video conferences available to schools across Australia. To celebrate ClickFest the PowerhouseMuseum is offering a diverse range of free and reduced cost programs spanning a whole range of topics from sustainability, mathematics, technology and design.

Sustainable Solutions Primary (yrs5&6)

Friday 08/11/13, 11am

This hands-on workshop encourages innovation as we explore alternative design solutions that considers the environment.

Discover the properties of plastics and polystyrene foam, analyse their lifecycles, then explore innovative solutions to create more environmentally-friendly materials. Pull up your sleeves — make your own creation using an eco-friendly, sustainable material to ensure a better future for the planet.

Book: http://dartconnections.org.au/DART-excursions/sustainable-solutions-workshop?ItemID=2913115

Babbage and his Difference Engine Secondary (yrs 10-12)

Friday 15/11/13, 11am

PowerhouseMuseum’s Principal Curator of Physical Sciences and IT, Mr. Matthew Connell, will introduce 19th century British mathematician Charles Babbage and examine his Difference Engine No 1, the first computer. Babbage’s extraordinary machine used the method of finite differences to make the process mechanical accurate and quick. Matthew will explain the maths of the difference engine and how to use it to generate successive values of a polynomial function by simple addition. He will also look at one of Babbage’s favourite polynomials — because everyone should have a favourite polynomial!

Book: http://dartconnections.org.au/DART-excursions/international-pi-day-babbage-and-his-difference-engine?ItemID=2913119

For Good Measure: Fun with measurement and standards Primary (yrs 4-6)

Friday 22/11/13, 11am

JoinPowerhouseMuseum’s Principal Curator of Physical Sciences and IT, Mr. Matthew Connell and venture underground into the Museum’s basement to take an exclusive peek at the measurement collection usually unseen by the public. Matthew will show you unique and interesting scaled instruments used in the past and today and tell you the stories of how they came about and what they were used for. Learn about gills, bushels and pecks. Find out about unusual standard scales including the barley corn and the smoot. Discover why the imperial system of measurement may seem tricky to use but is actually very easy. Matthew will have you doing some fun hands-on activities in your classroom to get you experimenting with measurement and mathematics.

Book: http://dartconnections.org.au/DART-excursions/for-good-measure-fun-with-measurement-and-standards-2?ItemID=2913123

Design Day: Magic of Materials

Friday 29/11/13, 11am

This workshop explores the innovative application of materials, where students learn about how materials are influenced by Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Students view unique materials, investigate their composition and see how they have been utilised in seemingly unlikely applications and diverse design fields. Students also complete a hands-on design activity exploring the material selection process.

Book: http://dartconnections.org.au/DART-excursions/magic-of-materials?ItemID=2914796

October 9, 2013March 24, 2020

Artist Workshops

ClickFest 2013 Program Spotlight.

ClickFest is an annual video conferencing festival run in November each year. Clickfest highlights the diversity and scope of video conferences available to schools across Australia.

The Museum of Contemporary Art have some exciting Artist Workshops available especially for ClickFest.

Tony Albert
Join artist Tony Albert via video conferencing in a hands-on workshop exploring his practice including his culture, family and storytelling. Work alongside Tony in a series of practical activities as he shares elements of his practice and answers your questions. Come with your questions ready!

From the artist:
“I was born in Townsville, North Queensland, about 100 kilometres from my family’s country in the lush rainforest around Cardwell. My childhood, however, was largely spent in the suburbs of Brisbane and at a school where my sister and I were the only Aboriginal children. Most of my family lived far away and, apart from them, I rarely saw Aboriginal people: not at the supermarket; not on the bus; not on television nor anywhere I went. So it was to my great delight, and I am sure my parent’s horror, when I discovered and began collecting from our local second-hand store all the cups, plates, trays, playing cards, statuettes, figurines – anything I could get – that were decorated with images of Aboriginal people. Of all the ‘Aboriginalia’ – a term I have coined for these objects – I was particularly drawn to the paint-by-number kits, perhaps because I had already started showing an interest in drawing and painting. Among the native flowers, kookaburras, kangaroos and koalas, there was one that depicted an old man sitting on a rock, holding a shield and spears, and naked except for a headband and a bone pierced through his nose. Although I recognised his features within my own family, his attire, pose and everything else about his portrait was completely at odds with my knowledge and experience of Aboriginal people. It was the 1980s and my sister, cousins and I were all obsessed with M.C. Hammer’s rap pants, Michael Jackson’s bolero jackets and playing video games.”

Tuesday 26 November, 10am, free for schools outside Metropolitan Sydney, $100 per class for schools within
> BOOK NOW

Benjamin Forster
Join artist Benjamin Forster via video conferencing in a hands-on workshop exploring his practice including drawing and mark-making. Work alongside Ben in a series of practical activities as he shares elements of his practice and answers your questions. Come with your questions ready!

Benjamin Forster’s practice may be positioned within contemporary drawing, bringing together digital and biological technologies, installation and print to trace the boundaries of logic, economy and the role of the artist in art making. He received a Bachelor of Visual Arts with First Class Honours from the Australian National University in 2009.

His Drawing Machine project was exhibited in Hatched 09: The National Graduate Exhibition at PICA, as well as the International Symposium on Computational Aesthetics 09 in Victoria, Canada. In 2012, Forster’s work was included in PRIMAVERA at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney in 2012 and NEW13 at ACCA in 2013.

Benjamin is undertaking a 6 month residency at the MCA during 2013 and will regularly contribute blog posts to the MCA website.

Thursday 28 November, 10am, free for schools outside Metropolitan Sydney, $100 per class for schools within
> BOOK NOW

Join the Museum of Contemporary Art for these exciting video conferences.

July 20, 2013July 20, 2013

SciFest 2013

SciFest Video Conferencing Festival

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.

July 12, 2013April 16, 2020

Launch of Virtual Excursions Australia

New national partnership connects teachers and students to virtual excursions

SYDNEY, Australia – 11 July 2013 – A new web portal providing access to online education resources was officially launched today by Senator, the Hon Kate Lundy, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister Assisting for Innovation and Industry, Minister Assisting for the Digital Economy.

Virtual Excursions Australia (VEA) is an initiative developed by a network of video conferencing providers from across the country, including arts, cultural, science and other education organisations.

The launch took place at the Interactive Technology in Education Conference (ITEC 2013) at the Sydney Opera House, where digital education programs and leading-edge technologies are being showcased this week.

Senator Kate Lundy and Virtual Excursions Australia content providers

The aim of VEA is to provide educators across the lifelong learning spectrum with information about high-quality videoconferencing events and other educational content delivered via high speed broadband networks.

Karen Player, Museum Outreach Manager for the Australian Museum and Chair of VEA said, “Virtual Excursions Australia is the result of a grass roots collaborative effort by a group of national organisations who wanted to improve how teachers and learners find out about and access the wide array of innovative digital content available today.”

“A high speed broadband connection enables teachers to access a huge choice of interactive online content to engage students and bring the curriculum to life in meaningful ways, without the traditional barrier of the expense and inconvenience of travel. VEA aims to be a portal where educators around Australia can begin their search for local and international resources and connect with content providers,” she said.

VEA will also be organising videoconferencing events, such as an upcoming Teachers Professional Development Day (15 July 2013), ‘SciFest a’ National Science Week Video Conference Festival (5-9 August 2013), Dinosaur Day (4 November 2013), and Clickfest (4-29 November 2013).

The partnering organisations behind the initiative are: Australian Museum, Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, Bradman Foundation, Fizzics Education, Literature Live, Opera Australia, Museum of Human Disease, Powerhouse Museum, Questacon: The National Science and Technology Centre, State Library NSW, Sydney Living Museums, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney Opera House, Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), CAASTRO All-sky Astrophysics University of Sydney, National Film & Sound Archive, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre, Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet), Cisco, Distance and Rural Technologies – NSW Department of Education and Communities, Electroboard and Polycom.

Nick Cross, Education Outreach Manager for AARNet, a VEA partner, said, “The increased availability of high speed networks has provided a stimulus for content providers to invest in real-time interactive service design and delivery. The VEA initiative plays a vital role by bringing together networks of educators and nationally significant content providers, broadening access and enabling meaningful learning experiences.”

July 6, 2013July 12, 2013

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.

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.

May 30, 2013June 4, 2013

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

May 15, 2013June 16, 2020

VEA Provider Profile – Fizzics Education

Virtual Excursions Australia is please to bring you the first in a series of provider profiles in which we will showcase each of or excursion providers and demonstrate what they have on offer for you and your students. The videos below give you just a sample of what Fizzics Education can bring to you via video conferencing.

Fizzics Education is a premiere science education organisation that offers engaging hands-on experiments and fully interactive demonstrations designed to improve students understanding and appreciation of science.

Additional videos of Fizzics experiments can bee seen at their Viemo channel

Highlights Chemical Capers VC from FizzicsEd on Vimeo.

November 2, 2012February 25, 2014

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.

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.

November 5, 2011April 15, 2013

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

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).

November 1, 2011March 24, 2020

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.

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.