LTC’s Andrew Burrell, Manager of Education Design and Production and Services, recently attended Educause Australasia 2009, and reports on the highlights of the conference:

• Gordon Bell: You and the cloud - a view on how the cloud will affect the future of computing

First, cloud computing?  Bell describes it as “the illusion of expandable and infinite computing resources available on demand.”  Here is a plain english video description.  Second, MyLifeBits is Bell’s lifetime store of everything -  articles, books, cards, CDs, letters, memos, papers, photos, pictures, presentations, home movies, videotaped lectures, voice recordings, phone calls, IM transcripts, television, and radio.  Check out his slideshow here (PDF 36.07M).

• John Hamer, University of Auckland: Aropä and PeerWise: Supporting Student Contributed Pedagogy in Large Classes

Aropä and PeerWise are two web-based tools that support collaborative learning in large, undergraduate classes.  Aropä manages peer assessment activities, allowing students to take part in double-blind refereeing of their peers’ coursework.  PeerWise is a data bank of multi-choice questions contributed, explained and discussed entirely by students.  See Hamer’s presentation slides.

• Brian Von Konsky, Curtin University of Technology: The iPortfolio: Capture, Reflect, Connect
  

Read his paper, which looks at the pedagogical benefits of an electronic student portfolio to critically reflect on formal learning and life experiences that enhance employability skills.

• Wei Xiang, University of Southern Queensland: Use of Wireless Tablet PCs as an Effective Learning and Teaching Enhancement Tool

At USQ, students are using wireless tablet PCs (portable computers equipped with touch screen and stylus for ‘handwriting’).  Read the presentation slides (PDF 6.6M) and paper (PDF 65k) for the benefits to students and teachers.

Check out the complete EDUCAUSE program here, with papers and slides for many presentations.

Filed under: Conferences and Workshops, Technologies by Agnes Bosanquet