Virtual worlds and games are increasingly being used in education and training to create learning experiences which are immersive, authentic and media rich.

Over the next two weeks, teachers, trainers and instructional designers will have the opportunity to engage with freelance designer and virtual worlds specialist, Jo Kay.

The online forum will explore how teachers and trainers are using virtual worlds and gaming platforms such as Second Life, ReactionGrid, Quest Atlantis and World of Warcraft to provide learners with a more relevant, engaging and personalised learning experience.

Join the discussion group and share your virtual world experiences!

Please note: In order to join the discussion group, you will need to login to the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework) website, flexiblelearning.net.au. If you are not already a member, registration only takes a second.

Following the discussion…

Jo Kay will be available for a live chat as part of the Framework’s e-Gems series of web-conferencing sessions.

Date:               Thursday 25 March 2010

When:             12:30 – 1:30pm AEDST

Where:            http://tinyurl.com/egems-virtualworlds 

Jo Kay is a freelance designer and facilitator working in virtual worlds and educational technology. She helps educators and organisations to use new and innovative technologies for learning. Jo is the owner and facilitator of the Islands of jokaydia Project – a space for a vibrant community of educators to explore the use of virtual worlds in education.

 Visit http://flexiblelearning.net.au/egems for more information.

For further information about e-Gems series and other professional development activities visit: http://flexiblelearning.net.au/e-events or contact e-events@flexiblelearning.net.au.

About e-Gems:

The e-Gems series of web conferencing sessions are unique learning and networking opportunities for people working in the vocational education and training (VET) and business sectors. Provided by the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, e-Gems web conferences are free and require no registration.

To participate, you must have access to headphones and a microphone and have installed and configured the Elluminate web conferencing software beforehand. If you encounter any problems, please contact Jyothi Jayaram on (02) 6207 4832 or email: e-events@flexiblelearning.net.au (Note: session access opens one hour before the scheduled time.)

To find out when the session starts in your time zone visit: http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc

For further information and recordings of archived sessions visit: http://flexiblelearning.net.au/e-events  OR contact: e-events@flexiblelearning.net.au

Hello everyone,

Listed below are the presentations from the e-learning showcase event held on the 18th November.  Video from the day will be made available and accessed via the Australian Flexible Learning Website, links will be made available when ready for viewing. Still working on Clint Smith’s presentation, it’s being naughty and not uploading!

Cathy Moore - Story Telling techniques

Clint Smith - How to prepare a winning e-learning innovation application

Frankie Forsyth - Niche marketing : how to succeed as a small RTO in a global market

Brad Beach - Making a project work

Deirdre Brown - Creating a blog as a learning resource

Roger Stack - Virtual worlds, real learning

Kim Edgar - LORN

Ian Whitehouse -  A successful project requires effort - Seven steps to success

Brad Beach - Online facilitation

Gail Wilson - ePortfolios, what is al the fuss about?

Our most recent TFLN workshop topic on Online Personalities with Roger Stack was a huge success. BIG thank you everyone for coming AND of course Roger for his time.

The educational possibilities and opportunities in the 3D world are endless. Workshop paricipants had lots of questions as to how SL (and other virtual worlds) might suit their educational needs. Our creative thought juices have been well ripened!

Roger’s slide show from the workshop can be seen here. The Avartar workshop was streamed on the internet using ustream.tv and the recording can be accessed via http://www.ustream.tv/tflg

Future get togethers have been requested for “hands on” workshops & are in the pipeline - watch this space TFLN people! If you’re reading this and want to added to our distribution list - contact us at Skills Tasmania.

Thank you Rusty