Linda Johnston is doin’ it for her faculty!

Linda is the Faculty e-Learning contact for the THRAPS (Tourism Hospitality Retail and Personal Services) faculty and part of the TAFE NSW, North Coast Institute’s Learning Technology Team. The main focus of this team is to explore the use of technology in teaching and learning and to increase staff capability in this area.

Not having a background in Information Technology, Linda seemed a little nervous about the task ahead. It was clearly evident at the start that she was excited by the challenge. Her enthusiasm to learn about, implement and explore new technologies and look at how they could enhance her role as a teacher has blown me away and impressed many of her colleagues.

How well do you teach in your Virtual Classroom?

Attended e-Learning Networks web conference about Virtual Classrooms, let me clarify; the virtual classroom is an online classroom using web software such as Adobe Connect or Elluminate. Sessions run in these applications have a URL (web address) and offer interactive tools such as polls, share document spaces, whiteboards, chat and much more. You can facilitate quite an interactive session using the software, which often includes the use of a web camera and headset for audio and vision.
Ruth focused on how to harness the power of a virtual classroom by looking at the techniques required (such as interactivity, instructional design, multimedia, use of graphics, etc), rather than the technologies (although there was a slight focus on Elluminate).

No more traditional classrooms in 2020…

The UK government has pledged £45bn for a ‘Building Schools for the Future’ program. By 2020, they propose to rebuild every school in the country…

around the world in ten minutes? maybe thirty!

Itchy Feet? Bored students?

How about a tour around the world? Try Google Earth (demo’s, downloads, instructions).

Google Earth uses Google Search technology, satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to give you a birds-eye view of the globe.

Is this our future?

new perspective to the future of online learning, flexible delivery, m-Learning and media rich content delivery to students using devices that they own