New Technology Trials
Five new technology trials will help to establish guidelines and e-standards to support the development and use of emerging technologies in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector.
The trials will be led by registered training organisations (RTOs), each receiving approximately $20,000 in funding and support from the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework).
The Framework’s E-standards for Training Business Manager, Owen O’Neill, said that the goal of the trials was to explore new and emerging technologies with the potential to deliver substantial benefits to learners in the VET sector.
“Testing these technologies will highlight their benefits, risks and future development needs; and contribute to the development of standards and guidelines to help VET practitioners adopt and use the technologies effectively,” Mr O’Neill said.
Mobile learning is a key focus this year, with several of the trials investigating how mobile technologies can facilitate and enhance hands-on learning outside of the traditional classroom environment.
The trials will also facilitate collaboration and information sharing between learners, teachers and trainers.
The five 2009 emerging technology trials are:
Registered training organisation
Technology
Project details
Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory
Memestreme: Red Centre Way
GPS and geo-tagging
This trial will build on current GPS (global positioning system) technology, which is commonly used for navigation. It aims to develop a process for geo-tagging, which involves recording video footage of a location, and then encoding the video with information about the location. The video can be loaded onto mobile devices equipped with GPS systems, and triggered when the user is in a particular location.
Geo-tagging technology has the potential to benefit learners in the field by providing ‘just in time’ information about their surroundings. Learning to use this technology may also be a valuable skill for learners completing tourism, mining, health, science and education courses.
Continuing Education Bendigo, Victoria
RSSing Organisational Capacity
Cloud computing and RSS
This project will trial using a cloud computing model to facilitate information sharing. Cloud-based applications do not run on a single computer, but distribute processing power, applications and large systems among a network of computers, using storage space and computing resources as needed. (See the Horizon Report for more information on cloud computing).
The trial aims to aggregate all sources of computer-based information about a learner into a single area, which teachers and trainers will be able to feed into using RSS (real simple syndication) technology. Collating learner information and work automatically is a relatively new practice for the VET system, and may also facilitate faster and easier RPL (recognition of prior learning) and the development of e-portfolios.
Western Sydney Institute, New South Wales
Mobilae: Integrating emerging technologies to enhance mobile learning, assessment and evidence gathering
Mobile devices and wireless networks
This project aims to use mobile devices to deliver text, photographs, sound and video related to real-world objects, to enable contextualised, just-in-time learning in the classroom or workplace. The innovative aspects of the project include the use of wireless LAN to attain higher bandwidths while avoiding 3G transfer charges, and the use of 2D barcodes to trigger object-related content. The project will also investigate evidence-gathering using mobile devices.
TAFE SA Regional Institute, South Australia
Eezee Publishing
Mobile web 2.0 tools
This project aims to trial and develop guidelines for using mobile web 2.0 tools to enable learners to network and share learning resources and experiences. Various tools will be trialled to facilitate online learning networks, including Mahara (an open-source e-portfolio tool), Flickr (a photo sharing tool) and WordPress (a blogging tool).
Tasmanian Polytechnic, Tasmania
Wikis as Sustainable, Adaptable Development Platforms
Wikis
Wikis are widely used as content development tools by learners participating in group work. However, moving content between different wikis, or publishing wiki content in different ways, can be difficult and time consuming.
As issues around wiki adaptability, reusability and compliance with standards have not been fully explored, this trial seeks to inform the development of standards and guidelines for wikis as a development and delivery platform.
The trials will be led by registered training organisations (RTOs), each receiving approximately $20,000 in funding and support from the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework).
The Framework’s E-standards for Training Business Manager, Owen O’Neill, said that the goal of the trials was to explore new and emerging technologies with the potential to deliver substantial benefits to learners in the VET sector.
“Testing these technologies will highlight their benefits, risks and future development needs; and contribute to the development of standards and guidelines to help VET practitioners adopt and use the technologies effectively,” Mr O’Neill said.
Mobile learning is a key focus this year, with several of the trials investigating how mobile technologies can facilitate and enhance hands-on learning outside of the traditional classroom environment.
The trials will also facilitate collaboration and information sharing between learners, teachers and trainers.
The five 2009 emerging technology trials are:
Registered training organisation
Technology
Project details
Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory
Memestreme: Red Centre Way
GPS and geo-tagging
This trial will build on current GPS (global positioning system) technology, which is commonly used for navigation. It aims to develop a process for geo-tagging, which involves recording video footage of a location, and then encoding the video with information about the location. The video can be loaded onto mobile devices equipped with GPS systems, and triggered when the user is in a particular location.
Geo-tagging technology has the potential to benefit learners in the field by providing ‘just in time’ information about their surroundings. Learning to use this technology may also be a valuable skill for learners completing tourism, mining, health, science and education courses.
Continuing Education Bendigo, Victoria
RSSing Organisational Capacity
Cloud computing and RSS
This project will trial using a cloud computing model to facilitate information sharing. Cloud-based applications do not run on a single computer, but distribute processing power, applications and large systems among a network of computers, using storage space and computing resources as needed. (See the Horizon Report for more information on cloud computing).
The trial aims to aggregate all sources of computer-based information about a learner into a single area, which teachers and trainers will be able to feed into using RSS (real simple syndication) technology. Collating learner information and work automatically is a relatively new practice for the VET system, and may also facilitate faster and easier RPL (recognition of prior learning) and the development of e-portfolios.
Western Sydney Institute, New South Wales
Mobilae: Integrating emerging technologies to enhance mobile learning, assessment and evidence gathering
Mobile devices and wireless networks
This project aims to use mobile devices to deliver text, photographs, sound and video related to real-world objects, to enable contextualised, just-in-time learning in the classroom or workplace. The innovative aspects of the project include the use of wireless LAN to attain higher bandwidths while avoiding 3G transfer charges, and the use of 2D barcodes to trigger object-related content. The project will also investigate evidence-gathering using mobile devices.
TAFE SA Regional Institute, South Australia
Eezee Publishing
Mobile web 2.0 tools
This project aims to trial and develop guidelines for using mobile web 2.0 tools to enable learners to network and share learning resources and experiences. Various tools will be trialled to facilitate online learning networks, including Mahara (an open-source e-portfolio tool), Flickr (a photo sharing tool) and WordPress (a blogging tool).
Tasmanian Polytechnic, Tasmania
Wikis as Sustainable, Adaptable Development Platforms
Wikis
Wikis are widely used as content development tools by learners participating in group work. However, moving content between different wikis, or publishing wiki content in different ways, can be difficult and time consuming.
As issues around wiki adaptability, reusability and compliance with standards have not been fully explored, this trial seeks to inform the development of standards and guidelines for wikis as a development and delivery platform.
posted by Adult Learning Australia
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