Making Web-Based Education Engaging, Interactive and Effective - Rod Sims
An Introduction to the Semantic Web - Steve Ball
How to Develop a Web-based Community - Geoffrey Kwitko

Outline: The workshop is designed as an interactive and participative session where the presenter will pose key challenges in the creation of emergent, engaging, interactive and motivational web-based learning environments. Using multi-disciplinary perspectives, participants will engage in discussions and activities designed to contextualise these challenges and develop environmentally-specific design and development solutions for their individual web-based learning programs. On completing the workshop participants will also have a set of tools to support the construction of their own "online architectures".

The expertise of Dr Sims in the international higher education sectors in instructional design, learning design and contemporary web-based learning environments will ensure participants will develop their knowledge and skills to maximise the success of their own online teaching and learning practice.

Facilities: In addition to audio-visual presentations and group discussions, the workshop is designed for round-table interactions and collaborative activities. Facilities for the workshop will include a data projector, writing materials and space for participants to display and discuss their deliberations.

Intended Audience:The intended audience for this workshop are educational designers responsible for supporting web-based learning pedagogy, academics implementing web environments and instructional, educational and curriculum designers from the training and education sectors. In addition, those keen to better understand strategies to realise the full potential of web-based learning environments will benefit from the workshop.

To maximise the outcomes that will accrue from the workshop, participants should be familiar with current web-based learning development and delivery environments and be active in the implementation of web environments within their own institution organisation.

Objectives: At the end of this one-day workshop, participants will have:

Reviewed and critically reflected on the key components for effective web-based learning:
• Analysed the major issues that confront and prevent designers from achieving the full potential of web-based learning;
• Synthesised the key elements required to construct effective web learning environments, including emergent design, proactive evaluation and interaction metrics;
• Participated in a case study of their own workplace environment to implement contextual and functional web-based learning contexts; and
• Access to a full set of resources and tools to develop and implement more complex web-based learning architectures within their workplace.

Workshop Format and Activities: The workshop is divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session will focus on the underpinning principles and practices that enable web-based education to cater for different learning and performance environments. The concept of 'architecture' as a framework for web-based learning will be presented and analysed. Examples from different disciplines will be used to highlight the ways in which web-based learning can benefit from emergent thinking. This will include the integration of:

• Emergent modelling strategies: the importance of applying a multi-disciplinary approach to the creation and implementation of contemporary web-based learning environments that cater for the dynamics of social networking;
• Principles of Web Pedagogy: presentation and analysis of the key factors that contribute to the development of contextual and individual web learning applications; and
• Metrics for Interaction: Presentation of heuristics and metrics that identify and underpin the critical elements of interaction that facilitate engagement and construction of meaning.

The afternoon session will involve a case-study where Web-Based Learning Contexts will be applied to settings associated with different learning outcomes and contexts.

At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will have a complete set of tools to create web-based learning environments or 'architectures' that are interactive, engaging, economic and outcome oriented.

Previous Presentations: Earlier versions of this workshop were successfully presented at AusWeb 2006 (http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw06/conf/workshops.html) and ASCILITE 2006

References: Recent references that will support the delivery of the workshop include:
Irlbeck, S., Kays, E., Jones, D. & Sims, R. (2006). The phoenix rising: Emergent models of instructional design. Distance Education, 27(2).
Kays, E. (2003a). Architecture and Instructional Design: A model for e-learning. E-Learn 2003: World Conference in E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Phoenix, AZ, 257-264.
Kays, E. (2003b). Creating emergent discourse: A critical ingredient in e-learning. Proceedings of E-Learn 2003: World Conference in E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Phoenix, AZ, 252-256.
Kays, E. (2003c). The four pillars of rapport: A critical ingredient in e-learning. Proceedings of the Interior Design Educators Council International Conference, San Diego, CA, 46-48.
Sims, R. & Hedberg, J. (in press). Encounter theory: A model to enhancing online communication, interaction and engagement, in C. Jawah (Ed.) Interactions in Online Education: Implications for Theory and Practice. London, UK: Routledge Education.

Sims, R. (2006). Beyond instructional design: Making learning design a reality. Journal of Learning Design, 1(2), 1-8. (Keynote Paper) Available online: http://www.jld.qut.edu.au/ (16th May 2006).

Biographical Details: Dr Rod Sims has worked in the technology and education field for over 25 years. During that period he has seen significant change both in the technology we use and the ways in which we design educational environments to effectively use that technology. Rod has worked as both a consultant in educational technology as well as designing and implementing undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the University of Technology Sydney and Southern Cross University. Over the last three years Rod has been working as an Adjunct Professor with the US-based Capella University, with responsibilities for online teaching, course development and PhD supervision in the field of Instructional Design for Online Learning. Rod has presented widely in Australia and internationally and is well known for his work on the design of interactive and engaging learning environments.

Top

Presenter: Steve Ball, CTO, Packaged Press and Explain <Steve.Ball@explain.com.au>

Note: Unfortunately Steve has had an ice hockey injury and will be having a knee replacement operation at the time of the conference. He has been able to arrange with a colleague Hoylen Su to present his workshop. Hoylen knows the AusWeb series and has been a presenter at a previous conference. Short Bio: Dr Hoylen Sue was formerly Senior Research Scientist at DSTC, the Technical Manager of the Australian W3C Office and a member of the W3C XML Query and XML Schema Working Groups. He is an expert on XML technologies and has presented on the Semantic Web before, making him a excellent person to present these tutorials. He is currently the "Technical Architect" at NEHTA (National E-Health Transition Authority) and working on Web services

Title: An Introduction to the Semantic Web

Outline:

Why do we need a Semantic Web? What's wrong with HTML? What does XML offer? What will it do for users? This morning session will provide an easy to understand introduction to the concept of the Semantic Web and the underlying XML code that powers it. It will cover all standards, and proposed standards, that make up the Semantic Web.

Topics covered include:
• Machine understandable data vs human readable information
• Metadata
• RDF
• Topic maps
• Data sharing and reuse

Is the Semantic Web ready for prime-time?  This afternoon session shows how Semantic Web technology can be applied to real world problems by demonstrating its use in applications being used today.

Topics covered include:
• Podcasting
• Configuration data
• Enterprise modeling
• Health Informatics

Biographical Details: Steve Ball is the Chief Technical Officer of Packaged Press - the innovative electronic publishing company - and Explain.  He is author of Web Tcl Complete (McGraw-Hill), several magazine articles and numerous research papers.  Steve has developed and manages a number of Open Source software projects, including the DocBook round-tripping system, the XSLT Standard Library, the Simple Content Management System (an XProc implementation) and the TclXML family of packages. Since 1997 Steve has been involved in XML standards and in developing best practises for engineering XSL stylesheets and designing XML-based systems.  He has been an Information Architect and XML consultant for several organisations, including the Federal Parliament of Australia, the ABC, State and Federal Government Departments.  Steve has been training Web authors and developers in all XML related topics, such as XML, XSL, XML

Schemas, SVG and DocBook for many years. Previously, Steve was a researcher at the Australian National University and the Advanced Computational Systems Co-Operative Research Centre.

Presenter: Geoffrey Kwitko, Web Community Strategist, FrameThink Solutions,
<geoff@influxweb.com>

Title: How to Develop a Web-based Community

Outline: This workshop is for those interested in the role of Web communities. Participants will receive latest industry insights from both a technological and commercial perspective. The workshop packs essential background into short entertaining presentations in conjunction with interactive discussions and one to one guidance each step of the way. Topics to be covered will include:

History of Web communities with respect to future direction and potential

• What lessons have we gained from past Web community efforts?
• What are the current Web community trends and where are they taking us?

Types of Web communities, including bulletin board forums, social networks, and wikis

• Which combination of community framework suits your needs?
• What are the benefits, risks, requirements and potential uses of each framework?
• How can Web communities integrate with local hobby or professional groups?
• What role will web communities play in personal and professional life in 5 years?

Benefits of thinking in terms of communities on the web

• Marketing benefits, including membership loyalty, stickiness and promotions
• How Web communities break every traditional business rule and paradigm
• Why Web communities grow faster and perform better than traditional Web sites

Why Web communities are becoming more important to commercial, educational and hobbyist stakeholders

• What is all the buzz about? Why are web communities such a hot topic?
• Are Web communities simply an extension to our day to day relationships and life?
• The growing importance of Internet collaboration and communication
• The universal application of Web communities to any topic or purpose

Steps to creating a powerful and effective web community location

• Introduction to the FrameThink philosophy
• Matching your goals with your big picture strategy
• Choosing your niche, understanding membership needs
• Understanding your technology and technical requirements
• Cost, revenue and growth considerations
• How to establish a self sustaining revenue generating engine
• Designing your Web community for collaboration and research
• How to get your community members working for you
• How to get other people to pay you to grow your own community

This workshop will be an action packed, high energy day with rich multimedia support and relevant examples from the presenter's industry experience.

Biographical details: Geoffrey Kwitko is a leading young talent in the Web community industry. As a consultant in the field, he has taken start-up Web communities from 0 to 700 active members in less than a month on only a $100 budget. Over recent years, Geoffrey provided Web community strategy to a number of finance companies, music artists, hobby groups, and educational institutes. Currently, he applies his unique FrameThink philosophy to running a niche finance and investment discussion Web community with over 11,000 contributors.

In addition to his proven practical experience, Geoffrey has an impressive academic background, being awarded a full scholarship to study a Bachelor Business (Ecommerce) and Bachelor Information Technology (Internet Technology) at Bond University. He did this at an accelerated pace while working full-time, and was placed first in class in nearly half of his courses. Recently graduated, Geoffrey was the highest performing business/information technology student for both 2005 and 2006, earning him the Australian Computer Society Award.

Geoffrey loves his work, and enjoys sharing his passion with others in workshops nationally.