About+the+Virtual+University+Collaboration



**27 - 28 October 2011 ** **Go to:** [] You are invited to participate in a first of a kind event, an in-world mixture of conference, workshop and collaboration, to discuss, design, build, operate and evaluate various virtual teaching and learning spaces for the university environment of the twenty first century. This unique event will begin with an intensive two day in-world meeting that will consist of a series of plenary talks, small group discussions and report back sessions, workshops, tutorials, demonstrations and tours. Over the following 4 weeks some of the main ideas and concepts for virtual teaching, learning and meeting spaces developed by participants will be constructed on the new virtual university island (with assistance from professional SL builders). Then over the next 3 months participants will be able to book and use these spaces for their own teaching and learning sessions, role plays and meetings. During this time there will be informal follow-up and evaluation meetings.

Traditional conferences last a few days and allow for ideas to be presented and for some follow-up discussion to occur. Standard workshops and tutorials often last a few hours or a day and while they often demonstrate and talk about skills they don't usually allow from much practice, testing or feedback on new ideas. We intend this new style of collaborative event to take the best of these traditional formats and add in the time and the facilities for extended collaboration which will see ideas put into practice and at least some preliminary evaluations undertaken.

We plan to repeat the collaboration (ANZVUC2) in March 2012 with the idea refining and extending the ideas and creations of first event. The plan is to have the virtual university island(s) as an ongoing collaborative and space to allow for construction and testing of applications of virtual world technologies to university teaching and learning. We welcome your ideas and suggestions for this and future events.


 * When: ** 14th & 15th Sept, 2011, 10am to 5pm Australian EST


 * Where **: On a new Second Life island (slurl to be advised)


 * Who should attend: ** Anyone interested in virtual learning environments and how they might be used in any aspect of modern university life - teaching, learning, research, administration, marketing, alumni relations etc. The event is suitable for both experienced SL users and those new to virtual world technologies. However we do ask that those new to Second Life spend sufficient time prior event to master the basic skills to attend and interaction in virtual world sessions**.** Advice on the minimum skill set needed and on training sites can be provided. For advanced users there will be an opportunity to build and/or work with other participants and experienced SL builders who will be contacted to provide support for the project. Everyone will be encouraged to network and collaborate and a range of Web 2.0 tools will be set up to facilitate this (Helen to you want to mention some recording tools we discussed?)


 * Registration: ** The fee to participate is AUD$295 and includes the conference and related workshop, tutorial, demonstration and tour session plus 3 months access to the constructed spaces. It is expected that participants will have a SL avatar and have acquired at the least the basic skills of interacting in a virtual environment. Register at (url to be supplied). //The event is limited to 50 participants. We do expect the event to be fully subscribed so please register early to secure your place.//


 * Why Encke? ** Throughout history, comets have acted as portents, heralding the birth or death of a great king, warning that times will never be the same, that there’s no going back – only forwards. Encke is a great comet to herald great changes in the educational landscape. As with ancient times, the prophesies may take some time to come to pass but surely they will. However, change is inevitable and history – and education - will surely march forward!

Encke visits us regularly and so will virtual Encke, building on what has gone before and reminding us that change is on the horizon. And when Encke does visit, its tail strays into our atmosphere and the sky lights up with a meteor shower. So too will the virtual Encke light up the landscape with precious insights about learning in virtual worlds.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Assoc Prof. Allan Ellis <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Southern Cross University <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Email: allan.ellis@scu.edu.au <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(SL: Alun Hastings)
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Collaboration Co-ordinators: **

<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Dr Helen Farley <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Australian Digital Futures Institute <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">University of Southern Queensland, ADFI <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Email: Helen.farley@usq.edu.au <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(SL: Helen Frak)

//<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Assisted by //

<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Julie Burton <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Norsearch Conference Services <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Email: julie.burton@scu.edu.au