By the end of 2019, approximately 80% of our internet usage will be through mobile phones. So why not use them to our advantage? Why not design our learning experiences to suit mobile first and foremost? In this month’s Think Tank expert panel session on September 16, the VEDT proposed the following question: What is best practice in, and potential impacts of, mobile-first design for VET, industry and skills training? Our experts for this panel discussion were: Colin Hickie, Head of Learning Design and Production – NESLI (National Excellence in School Leadership Institute) Stacey Murray, VET Author and Content Writer Damala Scales Ghosh, Lead Learning Designer – The Learning Hook First up was Colin Hickie, who emphasised a pedagogy-first approach, asking the question that many teachers echo: How can mobile learning engage with your audience in a way that face-to-face/online cannot? Colin also discussed NESLI’s focus when designing for mobile, ensuring that content is quick and accessible, easy to navigate and activity heavy to support engagement. Colin finished with an intriguing point that made all learning designers quake in their boots. Imagine the data collected from mobile learning could be used to evolve the content and learning style automatically. For […]
Adobe XD Awards at the Capitol Theatre
On 17 June 2019, the Vocational Education Design Team’s (VEDT) Multimedia team (consisting of Jack Dunstan, Nicky Callinan, Claire Tao, Oliver Lorraine-Wedd) attended RMIT’s Adobe XD Awards at the newly re-furnished Capitol Theatre on Swanston street. The following is a podcast by the multimedia team reflecting on the event, the beautiful heritage building and the showcase of student work. Click here to download the podcast […]
What we do in the Vocational Education Design Team
Entering the Vocational Education Design Team (VEDT) as a student was a bit of a shock for me. I’ve worked in a variety of vocations, but I’ve never experienced a workplace so welcoming, group-oriented and well-managed. The VEDT focuses on quality delivery, not only for our clients but also for the students who will engage with the courses we create. We endeavour to seek out new, innovative technologies and champion the evaluation of education’s evolution. And everyone in the team loves what they do. The Learning Design team meets fortnightly to discuss best practice for assessment creation, question structure, student-led activities, innovative use of Canvas and module pacing. The Multimedia Design team meets weekly to discuss advancing educational technologies, digital uplift, RMIT branding, Emble (a template creation tool for use in Canvas without the need for coding skills), H5P, and events and exhibitions that inspire their work. The Project Management team is always on the move, communicating best practice and solutions, coordinating activities and staff, and liaising with clientele internal and external to RMIT. Canvas is, quite literally, our canvas. We craft short, fast up-lift projects; full, end-to-end course development; industry-led projects and everything in between. From fully online, to […]
EduTECH 2019
Early in June I attended the annual EduTECH conference in Sydney where I presented with my brilliant colleague Renee Costa. We showcased our award-winning project that focused on re-thinking the way we educate the next generation of workers within aged care. The project looked at putting students in the workplace and learning within the flow of normal work activities as they completed a Certificate III in Individual Support. This included: personalised, flexible, student-led learning experiences students placed in a work environment for all their studies intensive face-to-face training by an RMIT teacher delivered in the workplace an RMIT teacher on-site in the workplace guidance and support for workplace supervisors who were assisting students micro-credentials to recognise enterprise skills identified by industry digital content to guide and support students in their learning. You can see the slides from this presentation below. Future proofing the next generation of workers PP_EMcKenzie Only two presentations after us, we heard from Charles Jennings who was a co-founder of the 70:20:10 model. This model underpinned much of our thinking in designing our individual support project. Charles’ presentation highlighted the importance of integrating learning into the work flow. The model is underpinned by the premise that: 70 […]
Bringing the real into VR and AR into the real
Melbourne Knowledge Week explores ideas and actions about our future. With a strong focus on emerging technologies, the VEDT attended a guest lecture on VR and AR from Frank Vetere, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Melbourne. Within the heritage meat market in North Melbourne, the journey of AR and VR was shown with amazing modern applications. From the movie ‘Metropolis’ in 1927, to Ivan Sutherland’s ground-breaking AR machine in 1967, there are regular 40-year cycles in AR and VR concepts. The most striking development in these technologies today is the use of emotion; adding this emotional element allows the user to feel more invested and connected to the activity. The first example of an emotional application was with an AR dog. Via a projection from a live AR headset, an AR dog appeared on the stage. The dog, wagging its tail and tilting its head, responded to cues and movements from the user. When AR balls were introduced (in a real basket) the dog began to jump, yipping and yapping with excitement. The user then threw the AR balls on the stage for the dog to collect. Both dog and AR balls responded to their surroundings by […]
