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Category Archives: professional learning


e-Learning environments

July 6, 2007 – 12:50 pm

Elliot Masie caught my attention this morning with an email subject: Can We really e-Learn at our desks? My first reaction was “of course I can” but then I read what he had to say.
While it is clear that people can learn some step by step instructions right at their work desks, can they really […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, online technologies, learning environments | Comments (0)

Inspired talks by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers

June 7, 2007 – 5:19 pm

Bryn Jones pointed me to this site through one of his occasional postings on his blog at http://brynjones.edublogs.org/feed/
Inspired talks has a wonderful range of speakers, videos to watch.  See http://www.ted.com/index.php/
The one that Bryn pointed to was Sir Ken Robinson who ‘makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, teaching and learning, lifelong learning, learning environments, blogs, Ken Robinson, Jimmy Wales, creativity | Comments (1)

Establishing your online presence(s)

May 28, 2007 – 1:50 pm

I am interested in how people resolve the need for more than one online presence. As of last Saturday I now blog in 4 places. How did that come about? Well, apart from my life here at education.au limited I also participate in a professional association, CEGSA (Computers in Education Group of South Australia) and […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, communication tools, teaching and learning, online technologies, learning environments, virtual environments, blogs | Comments (0)

Dynamics in an online community - 3 - building

May 24, 2007 – 8:41 am

Through Stephen Downes’ daily musings I have recently discovered two educational bloggers by the name of Dave. All three have worthwhile things to say about building communities and networks but I agree with Stephen (I think) that a community and a network are not necessarily the same thing.
In trying to envisage what I mean, I see […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, community development, networking, community building | Comments (0)

Dynamics in an online community-2 - trolls, pests etc

May 21, 2007 – 4:21 pm

Of course one of the aspects of online community dynamics that we have to consider are the factors that inhibit their functioning.
For that reason “How To Keep Hostile Jerks From Taking Over Your Online Community” available at http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=199600005 makes interesting reading.
In order to ensure that people understand the requirements, or know there are netiquette requirements, of […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, communication tools, Australian education, learning environments, virtual environments, netiquette | Comments (1)

Thinking about Second Life, VLEs, and other 3D environments

April 13, 2007 – 1:00 pm

A good friend, Lindy McKeown, ACCE and ISTE ICT Leader of the Year 2006, is ‘doing’ her PhD on use of 3D learning environments. She has set up Terra Incognita in Second Life as an island for educators. A dozen of us have become her “lab rabbits” and have begun thinking about how such environments might be used […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, online technologies, Australian education, professional development, community development, Second Life, SL, learning environments, 3D, virtual environments | Comments (4)

Did you get your newsletter “fix” today?

April 5, 2007 – 1:21 pm

Among the other jobs that I do as part of my work at education.au limited on the edna team, is that I produce The Networker, a fortnightly newsletter keeping people up to date with what edna is doing, including as well as some titbits of news related to Australian education.
The latest issue was published this […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, communication tools, teaching and learning, online technologies, Australian education | Comments (0)

Online community associated with Jimmy Wales seminar

April 5, 2007 – 1:09 pm

Join in the discussion about the phenomenon of Wikipedia and the use of wikis in educational contexts.
http://groups.edna.edu.au/educationau_challenging is an edna Group that has been set up to enable discussion related to the use of wikis in education.This is a public group, accessible without login, but in order to contribute to the discussion, you will need […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, online technologies, eduausem2007, wiki | Comments (1)

Wikis in education (2)

April 3, 2007 – 9:14 am

Wikipedia itself defines a wiki as “a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content, typically without the need for registration. It also allows for linking among any number of pages. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
Most wiki sites including wikipedia […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, teaching and learning, online technologies, professional development, community development, eduausem2007 | Comments (0)

Innovative PD/PL venue

March 21, 2007 – 9:53 am

Derek Bartels, Lutheran Education Queensland’s ICT executive officer, told me this week about an innovative professional learning program running on the TILT train to Bundaberg. Participants board the TILT train in Brisbane and then stay on to Bundaberg. Derek books the business carriage out and sets it up with laptops. In Bundaberg the group work with […]

By Kerrie Smith | Also posted in Educationau, teaching and learning, professional development | Comments (3)