Inventing future schools

A group of Australian researchers and designers have been working on ways to imagine, demonstrate and accelerate the use of ICT that extend learning relationships and environments to include the classroom, home and local community. These learning projects aim to transform how students identify and interact with learning, subject areas, teachers, other students, family, organisations and more broadly how learning tools can create connections that permeate students' life worlds now and in the future.---------- It is our intention that such demonstrators must - Be simple, flexible, scalable and adaptive - Result in increased confidence in the use of ICT for both students and teachers - Offer opportunities for personalized learning - Promote new and effective learning partnerships between students, teachers and families. - Extend the learning experience to include other environments both local and virtual. - Inspire further innovation - Provide solutions to current limitations---------- Presenting Innovation in Practice - Innovative ICT projects currently being used by students in schools, at home and in the community - Stories of use from teacher, student, and other stakeholder perspectives - Lessons learnt so far: a design perspective - Surprising and inspiring opportunities

SCOOT game event : families as partners in learning

How games can be designed to engage families in learning spaces outside of the classroom. SCOOT Game has been played by families in various science museums and art galleries in Australian capital cities since 2004. Families form groups to collaborate in the game that takes them on an SMS quest through these places engaging them with artworks, historic facts, landmarks, puzzles, street performances etc.

Designing spatial story-telling software

What does it mean when we design for accessibility, inclusivity and "dissolving boundaries" -- particularly those boundaries between the design philosophy, the software/interface actuality and the stated goals? This paper is about the principles underlying a research project called 'The Little Grey Cat engine' or greyCat. GreyCat has grown out of our experience in using commercial game engines as production environments for the transmission of culture and experience through the telling of individual stories. The key to this endeavour is the potential of the greyCat software to visualize worlds and the manner in which non-formal stories are intertwined with place. The apparently simple dictum of "show, don't tell" and the use of 3D game engines as a medium disguise an interesting nexus of problematic issues and questions, particularly in the ramifications for cultural dimensions and participatory interaction design. The engine is currently in alpha and the following paper is its background story. In this paper we discuss the problematic, thrown into sharp relief by a particular project, and we continue to unpack concepts and early designs behind the greyCat itself.

48 hour game making challenge

The 48 hour game making challenge has been running since its inception at the NEXT LEVEL Festival in 2004. It is curated by Truna aka j. Turner and Lubi Thomas and sees teams of both future game makers and industry professionals going head to head under pressure to produce playable games within the time period. The 48 hour is supported by the International Game Developers Association (Brisbane Chapter)and the Creative Industries Precincts as part of their public programs. It is a curated event which engages industry with Brisbane educational institutes and which fosters the Australian Games Industry

Adaptation of Sudanese refugees in an Australian context : investigating helps and hindrances

The present study investigates the experiences of Sudanese refugees by exploring the themes that characterise participants’ experiences in Sudan, en route, and at their Australian destination. In particular, the research identifies several factors that may be seen as ‘helps’ or ‘hindrances’ to Sudanese refugees’ adaptation. Participants were 12 Sudanese refugees aged between 19 and 40 years who had been residing in Australia for five years or less. A qualitative phenomenological approach to data collection and analysis was employed. Examination of the interview transcripts revealed that all participants identified both ‘hindrances’ and ‘helps’ toward adaptation and indicated that positive adaptation is not only possible, but probable for Sudanese refugees in spite of their past experiences of trauma and present resettlement difficulties. Several practical implications were elicited from the research including a need for programs that actively promote refugees’ adaptation by encouraging the broadening of social networks.

Framework and processes for enhancing sustainability deliverables in Australian road infrastructure projects

Road and highway infrastructure provides the backbone for a nation’s economic growth. The versatile dispersion of population in Australia and its resource boom, coupled with improved living standards and growing societal expectations, calls for continuing development and improvement of road infrastructure under the current local, state and federal governments’ policies and strategic plans. As road infrastructure projects involve huge resources and mechanisms, achieving sustainability not only on economic scales but also through environmental and social responsibility becomes a crucial issue. While sustainability is a logical link to infrastructure development, literature study and consultation with the industry found that there is a lack of common understanding on what constitutes sustainability in the infrastructure context. Its priorities are often interpreted differently among multiple stakeholders. For road infrastructure projects which typically span over long periods of time, achieving tangible sustainability outcomes during the lifecycle of development remains a formidable task. Sustainable development initiatives often remain ideological as in macro-level policies and broad-based concepts. There were little elaboration and exemplar cases on how these policies and concepts can be translated into practical decision-making during project implementation. In contrast, there seemed to be over commitment on research and development of sustainability assessment methods and tools. Between the two positions, there is a perception-reality gap and mismatch, specifically on how to enhance sustainability deliverables during infrastructure project delivery. Review on past research in this industry sector also found that little has been done to promote sustainable road infrastructure development; this has wide and varied potential impacts. This research identified the common perceptions and expectations by different stakeholders towards achieving sustainability in road and highway infrastructure projects. Face to face interviews on selected representatives of these stakeholders were carried out in order to select and categorize, confirm and prioritize a list of sustainability performance targets identified through literature and past research. A Delphi study was conducted with the assistance of a panel of senior industry professionals and academic experts, which further considered the interrelationship and influence of the sustainability indicators, and identified critical sustainability indicators under ten critical sustainability criteria (e.g. Environmental, Health & Safety, Resource Utilization & Management, Social & Cultural, Economic, Public Governance & Community Engagement, Relations Management, Engineering, Institutional and Project Management). This presented critical sustainability issues that needed to be addressed at the project level. Accordingly, exemplar highway development projects were used as case studies to elicit solutions for the critical issues. Through the identification and integration of different perceptions and priority needs of the stakeholders, as well as key sustainability indicators and solutions for critical issues, a set of decision-making guidelines was developed to promote and drive consistent sustainability deliverables in road infrastructure projects.

Australian foundations and the downturn

Building on the investigation of the Charity Commission (2009) on the effects of the economic downturn on the largest trusts and foundation in the United Kingdom, the purpose of this research was to assess the extent to which Australian trusts and foundations were taking an actively strategic approach to their investments and pursuit of mission (including grant-making), and the relationship between the two in the context of the economic downturn. Focus was given to identifying the issues raised as a consequence of the economic downturn, rather than providing a generalised snapshot of the ‘average’ foundations response. In September 2009, semi-structured, in depth interviews were conducted with executives of 23 grant making trusts and foundations. The interviews for this research focused on the largest grant makers in terms of grant expenditure, however included foundations from different geographical locations and from across different cause areas. It is important to stress at the outset that this was not a representative sample of foundations; the study aimed to identify issues rather than to present a representative picture of the ‘average’ foundation’s response. It is also important to note that the study was undertaken in September 2009 at a time when many foundations were beginning to feel more optimistic about the longer term future, but aware of continuing and possibly worsening short term income problems. But whatever the financial future, some of the underlying issues, concerning investment and grant making management practices, raised in this report will be of continuing relevance worthy of wider discussion. If a crisis is too good to waste, it is also too good to forget. One other introductory point – as previously noted, interviews for this study were conducted in September 2009 – just one month prior to the introduction of the new Private Ancillary Fund (PAF) legislation which replaced the previous Prescribed Private Fund (PPF) arrangement1. References to PAFs and/or PPFs reflect that time.

Rephrasing voice : art, practice-led research and the limits and sites of articulacy

While my PhD is practice-led research, it is my contention that such an inquiry cannot develop as long as it tries to emulate other models of research. I assert that practice-led research needs to account for an epistemological unknown or uncertainty central to the practice of art. By focusing on what I call the artist's 'voice,' I will show how this 'voice' is comprised of a dual motivation—'articulate' representation and 'inarticulate' affect—which do not even necessarily derive from the artist. Through an analysis of art-historical precedents, critical literature (the work of Jean-François Lyotard and Andrew Benjamin, the critical methods of philosophy, phenomenology and psychoanalysis) as well as of my own painting and digital arts practice, I aim to demonstrate how this unknown or uncertain aspect of artistic inquiry can be mapped. It is my contention that practice-led research needs to address and account for this dualistic 'voice' in order to more comprehensively articulate its unique contribution to research culture.

Healthy children, healthy planet : the case for transformative education in schools and early childhood from an Australian perspective

Climate change is an urgent global public health issue with substantial predicted impacts in the coming decades. Concurrently, global burden of disease studies highlight problems such as obesity, mental health problems and a range of other chronic diseases, many of which have origins in childhood. There is a unique opportunity to engage children in both health promotion and education for sustainability during their school years to help ameliorate both environmental and health issues. Evidence exists for the most effective ways to do this, through education that is empowering, action orientated and relevant to children’s day to day interests and concerns, and by tailoring such education to different educational sectors. The aim of this discussion paper is to argue the case for sustainability education in schools that links with health promotion and that adopts a practical approach to engaging children in these important public health and environmental issues. We describe two internationally implemented whole-school reform movements, Health Promoting Schools (HPS) and Sustainable Schools (SS) which seek to operationalise transformative educational processes. Drawing on international evidence and Australian case examples, we contend that children’s active involvement in such processes is not only educationally engaging and rewarding, it also contributes to human and environmental resilience and health. Further, school settings can play an important ecological public health role, incubating and amplifying the socially transformative changes urgently required to create pathways to healthy, just and sustainable human futures, on a viable planet.

Did the goodwill accounting standard impose material economic consequences on Australian acquirers?

This research explores the empirical association between takeover bid premium and acquired (purchased) goodwill, and tests whether the strength of the association changes after the passage of approved accounting standard AASB 1013 in Australia in 1988. AASB 1013 mandated capitalization and amortization of acquired goodwill to the income statement over a maximum period of 20 years. We use regressions to assess how the association between bid premium and acquired goodwill varies in the pre-AASB and post-AASB 1013 periods after controlling for confounding factors. Our results show that reducing the variety of accounting policy options available to bidder management after an acquisition results in a systematic reduction in the strength of the association between premium and goodwill.

The impact of spin on Australian real estate journalism : a Queensland study

Regardless of ‘bear’ or ‘bull’ markets, the great Australian dream remains to own your own home. Central to this dream of home ownership is unflagging interest in the property market, reflected in bulging real estate news sections of newspapers in South East Queensland, the focus area for this thesis research. While there has been much scholarly research into other areas of public relations spin and its impact on news-gathering processes, there appears to be next to no research on real estate spin, how it is prepared and by whom, and journalism’s attitude to and the managing of the spin. Real estate spin remains an under-researched topic requiring further investigation not only in South East Queensland but Australia-wide given the ‘big bucks’ allotted to the promotion of real estate and the income it generates for news media outlets, particularly newspapers. This thesis examines the influence of public relations practitioners and journalists specialising in real estate spin through interviews, content analysis, and how real estate spin envelopes itself in today’s society. From content analyses and observations of journalism in the real estate rounds of the two major newspapers in South East Queensland, I found that journalists were using massive quantities of real estate spin supplied by PR practitioners and other associated industry sources. This spin is supplanting investigative newsroom journalism, thus allowing newspapers to operate with minimal staffing levels yet still able to publish large weekly real estate news sections. My research also revealed growing commercialisation of real estate news through increasing outsourcing of journalistic work to a writing bureau, which could jeopardise both the professions of journalism and public relations in the future.

Up the e-learning curve : ensuring quality online education within an Australian university

The paper describes the implementation of a project within Australian Catholic University designed to launch the Faculties into online education in a manner which ensured quality in all aspects of the teaching-learning experiences of academics and students. Key elements of the strategic approach adopted by the project leaders, including the involvement of a specialist commercial provider of web-based delivery systems as a partner in the project, mechanisms to support the initiative through the first stages, careful choice of the programs offered online, and staff development matched to the emerging needs of those involved in the teaching of courses, are described. Challenges encountered in the implementation process, and the factors which assisted in overcoming these problems are identified. The paper draws upon this experience to raise some important issues relevant to the successful introduction of online education as an integral component of the teaching repertoire of Faculties.

The silk road project : dance and embodiment in the age of motion capture

The Silk Road Project was a practice-based research project investigating the potential of motion capture technology to inform perceptions of embodiment in dance performance. The project created a multi-disciplinary collaborative performance event using dance performance and real-time motion capture at Deakin University’s Deakin Motion Lab. Several new technological advances in producing real-time motion capture performance were produced, along with a performance event that examined the aesthetic interplay between a dancer’s movement and the precise mappings of its trajectories created by motion capture and real-time motion graphic visualisations.

The 2006 CSRC guidelines for articles of Association of Chinese listed companies : critiquing from an Australian perspective

Compares the Chinese Securities and Regulatory Commission's guidelines for articles of association of listed companies issued in 2006 with 'replaceable' rules in the Australian Corporations Act 2001. Discusses the provisions of the Chinese guidelines and the Australian rules on corporate constitution, interpretation, a company's representative, object clauses, shareholders' powers and meetings and directors. Questions whether the Chinese guidelines facilitate effective corporate governance.

Election campaigns, and television news coverage : the case of the 2001 Australian election

This paper examines the patterns of television news coverage of the political parties, their leaders and the issues they raised during the 2001 Australian federal election campaign. By focusing on some issues, parties and leaders, television has long been argued to constrain voters' evaluations. We find that television news coverage in the 2001 Australian election campaign focused primarily on international issues, especially terrorism and asylum seekers, and on the two major parties - virtually to the exclusion of coverage of the minor parties and their leaders. Within the major party 'two-horse race', television gave substantially more coverage to the leaders than to the parties themselves, thereby sustaining what some have called a 'presidential'-style political contest. John Howard emerged as the winner in the leaders' stakes, garnering more coverage than Labor's Kim Beazley.