Asian-Australian Children’s Literature and Publishing (AACLAP)

Led by Queensland University of Technology, the Asian-Australian Children’s Literature and Publishing (AACLAP)research project investigates and records details of Australian children’s literature that is set in Asia and/or that represents Asian-Australian cultures and experiences and literature that is published in selected Asian languages. This includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Bay of Bengal. The AACLAP dataset is a comprehensive collection of agent and work records related to ’Asia’, including, but not limited to, autobiography, fiction, criticism, poetry, drama, short stories, and picture books, published during a forty-year period from 1970 to 2010. The dataset provide valuable primary and secondary sources that are important for developing literature-focused educational programs in line with the national government’s push for Asia Literacy. AACLAP is a subset of AustLit, the virtual research environment and information resource for Australian literary, print, and narrative culture scholars, students, and the public.

The challenges of preparing pre-service teachers to embrace a digital pedagogy

The need for pre-service teachers to be proficient in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the classroom once they graduate is essential, though this process is not a straightforward process (Zhang, 2008) and needs to go beyond pre-service teachers just being able to use ICT. Research suggests that for teachers to successfully use ICT in their classrooms they need to be specifically trained to do so (Markauskaite, 2007; Batane, 2004; Jacobsen, Clifford & Friesen, 2002). Pre-service teachers must also be able to embrace and use new and emerging ICT’s, often referred to as digital technologies, within their pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. According to UNESCO, these “new technologies require new teacher roles, new pedagogies, and new approaches to teacher training” (2008, p.9). However, new approaches to teacher training have moved very slowly in many areas and preparing pre-service teachers to develop proficiency in embracing a digital pedagogy within their own classrooms can be a challenge for teacher training institutes. This paper reports on a case study of first year education students (N=667) and their experiences during their first semester of pre-service teacher education in a core ICT unit. It will report on the background ICT knowledge and skills that these students bring to the course as well as their expectations of the unit and ICT in their future teaching. The paper will then draw on the research results to identify challenges facing teacher training of pre-service teachers in using digital technologies in their future classrooms.

The backfilled GEI : a cross-capture modality gait feature for frontal and side-view gait recognition

In this paper, we propose a novel direction for gait recognition research by proposing a new capture-modality independent, appearance-based feature which we call the Back-filled Gait Energy Image (BGEI). It can can be constructed from both frontal depth images, as well as the more commonly used side-view silhouettes, allowing the feature to be applied across these two differing capturing systems using the same enrolled database. To evaluate this new feature, a frontally captured depth-based gait dataset was created containing 37 unique subjects, a subset of which also contained sequences captured from the side. The results demonstrate that the BGEI can effectively be used to identify subjects through their gait across these two differing input devices, achieving rank-1 match rate of 100%, in our experiments. We also compare the BGEI against the GEI and GEV in their respective domains, using the CASIA dataset and our depth dataset, showing that it compares favourably against them. The experiments conducted were performed using a sparse representation based classifier with a locally discriminating input feature space, which show significant improvement in performance over other classifiers used in gait recognition literature, achieving state of the art results with the GEI on the CASIA dataset.

Towards Asia literacy : the Australian curriculum and Asian-Australian children's literature

This paper is concerned with the ways Asia Literacy can be developed in response to the new Australian Curriculum. In particular, it addresses the learning possibilities of the Asian-Australian Literature and Publishing Project (AACLAP) available through AustLit: the Australian Literature Resource. The paper argues that the AACLAP dataset provides a broad range of resources through which to address the cross curriculum priority of the Australian Curriculum on Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia. It contends that AACLAP has the potential to make a valuable contribution to teachers’ efforts to incorporate this cross curriculum priority in their classroom practice whilst also developing the general capabilities of intercultural understanding and the use of information and communication technology (ICT). This discussion is of particular significance to teachers of English and History, given that these disciplines are implemented in the first phase of the Australian Curriculum in schools. The paper concludes that by drawing on the broad range of texts available in the AACLAP collection as well as the Critical Anthology and the Research and Learning Trails, teachers and students will be much better positioned to develop a deeper understanding of the diversity of the Asian region and the complexities of Asian-Australian relationships.

When digital native meets analogue reality : a case study of ICT skills in first year university students

Recently claims have been made that all universities will in coming decades merge to become just a few mega-institutions offering online degrees to the world. This assumes a degree of literacy with ICT (information and communication technology) amongst potential students, who are often regarded as 'digital natives'. Far from being digital natives, many students have considerable trouble using ICT beyond the ubiquitous Facebook. While some students are computer literate, a substantial proportion lack the skills to prosper under their own devices in an online tertiary education environment. For these students a blended learning experience is needed to develop skills to effectively interact in the virtual environment. This paper presents a case study that specifically examined the ICT capabilities of first-year university students enrolled in the School of Civil Engineering and the Built Environment at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Empirical data are presented and curriculum strategies articulated to develop ICT skills in university undergraduates.

Mobile social tool for supporting responsible drinking in yourng women

Binge drinking is an important issue in Australia and worldwide. Existing studies have shown that mobile tools provide an effective method to self-monitor drink sessions, whereas social tool such as Facebook, can be used to construct social drinker identity (thus normalizing binge drinking), but if used among a peer-support that promotes the importance of responsible drinking, it potentially can be effective in moderating alcohol consumption. To combine mobile and social tool approaches, the study involves two complementary and largely qualitative studies to inform a novel design of an engaging mobile social tool for supporting responsible drinking among young women: (1) a survey of literature and mobile tools on alcohol related studies and interventions; (2) an in-depth focus group interview among young women aged 18 to 24. The results and discussions provide some valuable insights for future research and development in the field.

Framing Movements for Gesture Interface Design

Gesture interfaces are an attractive avenue for human-computer interaction, given the range of expression that people are able to engage when gesturing. Consequently, there is a long running stream of research into gesture as a means of interaction in the field of human-computer interaction. However, most of this research has focussed on the technical challenges of detecting and responding to people’s movements, or on exploring the interaction possibilities opened up by technical developments. There has been relatively little research on how to actually design gesture interfaces, or on the kinds of understandings of gesture that might be most useful to gesture interface designers. Running parallel to research in gesture interfaces, there is a body of research into human gesture, which would seem a useful source to draw knowledge that could inform gesture interface design. However, there is a gap between the ways that ‘gesture’ is conceived of in gesture interface research compared to gesture research. In this dissertation, I explore this gap and reflect on the appropriateness of existing research into human gesturing for the needs of gesture interface design. Through a participatory design process, I designed, prototyped and evaluated a gesture interface for the work of the dental examination. Against this grounding experience, I undertook an analysis of the work of the dental examination with particular focus on the roles that gestures play in the work to compare and discuss existing gesture research. I take the work of the gesture researcher McNeill as a point of focus, because he is widely cited within gesture interface research literature. I show that although McNeill’s research into human gesture can be applied to some important aspects of the gestures of dentistry, there remain range of gestures that McNeill’s work does not deal with directly, yet which play an important role in the work and could usefully be responded to with gesture interface technologies. I discuss some other strands of gesture research, which are less widely cited within gesture interface research, but offer a broader conception of gesture that would be useful for gesture interface design. Ultimately, I argue that the gap in conceptions of gesture between gesture interface research and gesture research is an outcome of the different interests that each community brings to bear on the research. What gesture interface research requires is attention to the problems of designing gesture interfaces for authentic context of use and assessment of existing theory in light of this.

Application of a digital elevation model for flood modeling for the Pagsangaan River in Leyte

Flood related scientific and community-based data are rarely systematically collected and analysed in the Philippines. Over the last decades the Pagsangaan River Basin, Leyte, has experienced several flood events. However, documentation describing flood characteristics such as extent, duration or height of these floods are close to non-existing. To address this issue, computerized flood modelling was used to reproduce past events where there was data available for at least partial calibration and validation. The model was also used to provide scenario-based predictions based on A1B climate change assumptions for the area. The most important input for flood modelling is a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the river basin. No accurate topographic maps or Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR)-generated data are available for the Pagsangaan River. Therefore, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Map (GDEM), Version 1, was chosen as the DEM. Although the horizontal spatial resolution of 30 m is rather desirable, it contains substantial vertical errors. These were identified, different correction methods were tested and the resulting DEM was used for flood modelling. The above mentioned data were combined with cross-sections at various strategic locations of the river network, meteorological records, river water level, and current velocity to develop the 1D-2D flood model. SOBEK was used as modelling software to create different rainfall scenarios, including historic flooding events. Due to the lack of scientific data for the verification of the model quality, interviews with local stakeholders served as the gauge to judge the quality of the generated flood maps. According to interviewees, the model reflects reality more accurately than previously available flood maps. The resulting flood maps are now used by the operations centre of a local flood early warning system for warnings and evacuation alerts. Furthermore these maps can serve as a basis to identify flood hazard areas for spatial land use planning purposes.

What makes an LMS effective : a synthesis of current literature

There is a growing number of organizations and universities now utilising e-learning practices in their teaching and learning programs. These systems have allowed for knowledge sharing and provide opportunities for users to have access to learning materials regardless of time and place. However, while the uptake of these systems is quite high, there is little research into the effectiveness of such systems, particularly in higher education. This paper investigates the methods that are used to study the effectiveness of e-learning systems and the factors that are critical for the success of a learning management system (LMS). Five major success categories are identified in this study and explained in depth. These are the teacher, student, LMS design, learning materials and external support.

Standing up and finding my voice through positive digital storytelling

‘Positive Stories’ is a digital storytelling initiative that took place in Adelaide in 2010–2011.1 This article describes participants’ experiences of creative self-representation and the thorny complications of mediating voice, particularly in situations where privacy and publicity are significant issues.

Mediating identity narratives : a case study in queer digital storytelling as everyday activism

Digital Stories are short autobiographical documentaries, often illustrated with personal photographs and narrated in the first person, and typically produced in group workshops. As a media form they offer ‘ordinary people’ the opportunity to represent themselves to audiences of their choosing; and this amplification of hitherto unheard voices has significant repercussions for their social participation. Many of the storytellers involved in the ‘Rainbow Family Tree’ case study that is the subject of this paper can be characterised as ‘everyday’ activists for their common desire to use their personal stories to increase social acceptance of marginalised identity categories. However, in conflict with their willingness to share their personal stories, many fear the risks and ramifications of distributing them in public spaces (especially online) to audiences both intimate and unknown. Additionally, while technologies for production and distribution of rich media products have become more accessible and user-friendly, many obstacles remain. For many people there are difficulties with technological access and aptitude, personal agency, cultural capital, and social isolation, not to mention availability of the time and energy requisite to Digital Storytelling. Additionally, workshop context, facilitation and distribution processes all influence the content of stories. This paper explores the many factors that make ‘authentic’ self-representation far from straight forward. I use qualitative data drawn from interviews, Digital Story texts and ethnographic observation of GLBTQIS participants in a Digital Storytelling initiative that combined face-to-face and online modes of participation. I consider mediating influences in practice and theory and draw on strategies put forth in cultural anthropology and narrative therapy to propose some practical tools for nuanced and sensitive facilitation of Digital Storytelling workshops and webspaces. Finally, I consider the implications of these facilitation strategies for voice, identity and social participation.

Creativity is as important as literacy : making a film trailer responding to literature

The first part of the title is from Sir Ken Robinson (Robinson, 2009), the esteemed educator and champion of creativity in schools. Sometimes in the face of meeting the demands of time, timetabling, demanding administration tasks and teaching for high stakes testing accountability, we can find ourselves desperate for time to remember that English has always been one of the places in schools where creativity can flourish. English is a place for the play of the imagination. English teachers are the purveyors of narrative; the keepers and teachers of stories. The new Australian Curriculum: English, (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2012) asks us to be using ICT technologies in creative ways to tell those stories. The curriculum asks students to access texts receptively and to then speak about, write and create texts productively. There are so many interesting things to do with texts beyond word processing of print based resources. Responding to literature through media is always an alternative option to writing or simply speaking about it. In this paper my QUT pre-service student Chrystal Armitage describes how she made a mini story via a film trailer in response to a short story, ‘Turned’ (Gilman, 1987) in the unit, Literature in Secondary Teaching.

The role of the internet and digital technologies in the struggle for recognition of the forgotten Australians

Our contemporary public sphere has seen the 'emergence of new political rituals, which are concerned with the stains of the past, with self disclosure, and with ways of remembering once taboo and traumatic events' (Misztal, 2005). A recent case of this phenomenon occurred in Australia in 2009 with the apology to the 'Forgotten Australians': a group who suffered abuse and neglect after being removed from their parents – either in Australia or in the UK - and placed in Church and State run institutions in Australia between 1930 and 1970. This campaign for recognition by a profoundly marginalized group coincides with the decade in which the opportunities of Web 2.0 were seen to be diffusing throughout different social groups, and were considered a tool for social inclusion. This paper examines the case of the Forgotten Australians as an opportunity to investigate the role of the internet in cultural trauma and public apology. As such, it adds to recent scholarship on the role of digital web based technologies in commemoration and memorials (Arthur, 2009; Haskins, 2007; Cohen and Willis, 2004), and on digital storytelling in the context of trauma (Klaebe, 2011) by locating their role in a broader and emerging domain of social responsibility and political action (Alexander, 2004).

Guerrilla research tactics: alternative research methods

This case-study explores alternative and experimental methods of research data acquisition, through an emerging research methodology, ‘Guerrilla Research Tactics’ [GRT]. The premise is that the researcher develops covert tactics for attracting and engaging with research participants. These methods range between simple analogue interventions to physical bespoke artefacts which contain an embedded digital link to a live, interactive data collecting resource, such as an online poll, survey or similar. These artefacts are purposefully placed in environments where the researcher anticipates an encounter and response from the potential research participant. The choice of design and placement of artefacts is specific and intentional. DESCRIPTION: Additional information may include: the outcomes; key factors or principles that contribute to its effectiveness; anticipated impact/evidence of impact. This case-study assesses the application of ‘Guerrilla Research Tactics’ [GRT] Methodology as an alternative, engaging and interactive method of data acquisition for higher degree research. Extending Gauntlett’s definition of ‘new creative methods… an alternative to language driven qualitative research methods' (2007), this case-study contributes to the existing body of literature addressing creative and interactive approaches to HDR data collection. The case-study was undertaken with Masters of Architecture and Urban Design research students at QUT, in 2012. Typically students within these creative disciplines view research as a taxing and boring process, distracting them from their studio design focus. An obstacle that many students face, is acquiring data from their intended participant groups. In response to these challenges the authors worked with students to develop creative, fun, and engaging research methods for both the students and their research participants. GRT are influenced by and developed from a combination of participatory action research (Kindon, 2008) and unobtrusive research methods (Kellehear, 1993), to enhance social research. GRT takes un-obtrusive research in a new direction, beyond the typical social research methods. The Masters research students developed alternative methods for acquiring data, which relied on a combination of analogue design interventions and online platforms commonly distributed through social networks. They identified critical issues that required action by the community, and the processes they developed focused on engaging with communities, to propose solutions. Key characteristics shared between both GRT and Guerrilla Activism, are notions of political issues, the unexpected, the unconventional, and being interactive, unique and thought provoking. The trend of Guerrilla Activism has been adapted to: marketing, communication, gardening, craftivism, theatre, poetry, and art. Focusing on the action element and examining elements of current trends within Guerrilla marketing, we believe that GRT can be applied to a range of research areas within various academic disciplines.