Make an app, you can do that too

Jayant Varma, OZ AppsPart of XW13

Apps are everywhere, still there are ideas that are worthy of being made into an app. The biggest issue faced by anyone is getting the idea converted into an app for various reasons. These can hinge around various resource constraints like knowledge or finances. In this session you can learn how to overcome this and be on your way in converting your ideas into an app.

The takeaway from this workshop is Lua which can be run on Windows, Macintosh and Unix systems, and be very useful to write scripts that look like English, are powerful, and have a small footprint.

You will need to bring your own Macintosh laptop to participate in this lab, preferably running MacOS X 10.8.x.

Jayant is the author of the book “Learn Lua for iOS Game Development” from Apress.  He was formerly a lecturer at James Cook University, and presented at X World 2010 and X World 2011, and has run workshops for the AUC on Corona. He currently runs a consulting service known as OZ Apps, and develop apps for iOS and Android using a variety of frameworks and languages.


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Rapid Development for Singular Purpose Mac Computing Environments

Matthew Tilney, Australian National UniversityPart of XW13

With a change in IT to consumer BYO devices, there are still new and emerging areas for system administrators that can provide positive use of resources and add value in universities. This workshop is a hands-on session on creating the follow niche environments:

  • public movie display (using an iMac)
  • photo display feed from PhotoBooth
  • initial design for computer-based exams (replacing the exam paper pad with Word)

The focus is upon quick, flexible, re-usable and modular design to rapidly develop the above and similar environments.  All attendees are welcome, only broad background in Macintosh usage is required.


Matthew is a Macintosh system administrator in the Managed Operating Environments team for the Division of Information at ANU.  His primary responsibility includes installing, updating and maintaining the student Information Commons (IC) Macintosh fleet of over 500 machines along with Adam Reed.

His other tasks include the management of staff Macintosh based machines (and other Apple devices), setup of specific learning facilities, and day-to-day support of Apple and Microsoft and other IT based products as required.

Recently he has taken ‘personal development time’ to investigate the idea of creating ‘fun’ minimal user environments using spare iMacs for use by both staff and students such as photo-booth and image displays.


  6.6 MB


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Building an SOE/MOE

Adam Reed, Australian National UniversityPart of XW13

This hands on session will cover numerous aspects of building and maintaining a SOE/MOE, including:

  • understanding OS X,
  • software packaging,
  • basic scripting, and
  • the command line

You will see and use various tools that make managing a SOE easier, and you will gain some practical ideas that you can utilise in your environment. This is a repeat of a session offered at X World 2012.

You will need to bring your own Macintosh laptop to participate in this lab, preferably running MacOS X 10.8.x.

Adam is the team leader of the Managed Operating Environments team from Information Technology Services at ANU. His team builds MOEs for student and staff machines on both OS X and Windows.

Within the team, Adam is the senior Macintosh admin, and has extensive experience in the design, construction, and management of Macintosh MOE’s. Recently his team has implemented a new Munki managed environment that is used by different service provider groups from across the campus in a shared services style manner.


  3.5 MB


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Developing iOS Apps (Filemaker GO) using Filemaker

Alistair Campbell, Edith Cowan UniversityPart of XW13

The workshop will be of interest to anybody interested in rapid development and/or prototype development of useful apps, with no coding, for deployment on iPhones, iPods, iPads and Macs. Attendees will learn how to develop one app that can easily recognise the device and display appropriate windows.

The workshop will include:

  • a short introduction to the new features in Filemaker GO and Filemaker,
  • the conversion of existing spreadsheets into apps (a number of samples will be given),
  • the development of a number of windows to display this information and how different types of data can be entered using standard database features,
  • issues that need to be considered when developing app, fonts, layout, navigation etc.,
  • exploration of the ability to capture signatures, audio and video along with pictures within the app with no coding required,
  • exploration of the ability to capture barcodes using a free bar code reader and sample FileMakerGO database, and
  • deployment issues, e.g. local vs server based

Attendees will leave with a number of personalised apps for their desired device(s).


Half of Alistair’s current role is as an ICT pedagogical officer, supporting staff within the School of Education at Edith Cowan University to implement ICT into their curriculum. The other half is involves research into the practical application of mobile apps for deployment on iOS devices in the assessment of authentic student work. He is currently working on projects involving university, primary and secondary education.


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Interactive Large Class Teaching Spaces

William McGrath, University of AucklandPart of XW13

In an era of tightening budgets, considerable pressure is put on tertiary education providers to consider delivering classes to larger audiences. Large Class Teaching is the term often coined where classes are larger than 60.

The Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland has been working on ways to promote active learning in these classes, facilitated by an appropriate mix of technology and teaching methods.

This presentation will discuss the tools provided to academic staff to make their sessions interactive and engaging, and the ways they can leverage the technology to get a better handle on what progress their students are making.


William is a Macintosh systems specialist at the University of Auckland. His work involves the planning and implementation of Apple technology for use in teaching, learning and research. He oversees the deployment and management of over 600 Macintosh computers across campus and advises the university on best practice when it comes to managing Apple technology.


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Saying Bonjour to your Network (in a Good Way)

David Colville, XciteLogicPart of XW13

AirPlay and AirPrint are amazing technologies, but they rely on Bonjour and multicast DNS which can be tricky to get working on modern networks.

In this session David will go through some configurations for deploying Airprint on restricted networks, as well as configuring Windows servers to publish AirPrint printing or AirPlay devices, and look at third-party vendor solutions that can help manage Multicast DNS.

He wil also look at some great applications that you can use once you have AirPlay up and running.


David Colville is Technical Account Manager at XciteLogic. He is the lead engineering role in NSW, working predominantly in Corporate and Educational environments and integrating Apple technologies.


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Using Git with, and Automating Munki

Adam Reed, Australian National UniversityPart of XW13

This talk is on Using Git with, and automating Munki. The presentation focuses on two aspects of advancing your use of Munki. The first is demonstrating how you can use the git distributed version control system in conjunction with Munki (and to also assist general sys admin tasks), and the second will be a demonstration of Auto Munki Importer and how you can use it to automatically package applications for your users.


Adam is the team leader of the Managed Operating Environments team from Information Technology Services at ANU. His team builds MOEs for student and staff machines on both OS X and Windows.

Within the team, Adam is the senior Macintosh admin, and has extensive experience in the design, construction, and management of Macintosh MOE’s. Recently his team has implemented a new Munki managed environment that is used by different service provider groups from across the campus in a shared services style manner.


  1.1 MB


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Web Portals – Creating a Better User Experience

Kyle Heading, Walford Anglican School for GirlsPart of XW13

I will present a session on how to get rid of the traditional proxy server within a large scale environment. Our solution to this was to use a captive portal setup which still offers the benefits of a traditional proxy sever, but also has the added benefits of zero client configuration and works seamlessly with iOS Apps that are not proxy aware.

This has given our users a seamless experience in which to work, no matter what devices they choose to use, it means students and teachers don’t need to worry about the technical problems of the device and can just get on with the teaching and learning.

We have also integrated charging and reporting modules, which can be used at anytime by the user to check remaining quota and previously usage. We present this information as well as much more within an easy to use webpage, that’s presented to the user each time a user connects a device.


Kyle has been working within the IT industry for 10 years, and has spent the entire time working within educational institutes. He first started with TafeSA and became the Apple guru for the nearly 1000 Apple Mac’s spread across 4 campus – the majority of the environment was Windows based with an additional 5000 PCs – with nearly 80,000 students. This gave him excellent insight into how to integrate Mac and PC in an enterprise environment.

He is currently employed as the IT Systems Administrator at Walford Anglican School for Girls, which has approximately 1200 users, approximately 500 OS X machines and nearly 500 iPads, with more being added all the time. The school has a reputation as having one of the best iPad programs in the country and leading the way in integrating technology into the classroom.


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Apple TV AirPlay

Michael Page, Walford Anglican School for GirlsPart of XW13

I would like to share our experiences deploying Apple TVs to almost every classroom at Walford Anglican School for Girls.

The session is aimed towards IT staff considering or currently deploying Apple TVs. It will cover the advantages behind AirPlay in the classroom and also go into the technical hurdles we’ve had to overcome to achieve a lag free AirPlay experience.


Michael is an IT support officer at Walford Anglican School for Girls, providing support for over 500 Macs and more than 500 iPads. His motivation comes from helping develop an IT infrastructure capable of providing both teachers and students with a cutting-edge IT experience, to improve learning outcomes and overall classroom efficiency.


  5.8 MB


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Can you hear me? Physically Presenting your Digital Information

Adam Ware, Queensland University of TechnologyPart of XW13

Presenting student and staff information clearly is often a difficult and challenging part of day–to–day life working in a University.

No longer are IT staff only expected ‘fix’ computer problems, we often also have to be the key holders, media guards, content gurus, spelling geniuses, Photoshop masters and CMS kings. Some are taking a larger slice of so called “internal content authorship” work and pushing through strange technological processes which often leave us scratching our heads.

This talk will cover findings on presenting digital information at the Creative Industries faculty at Queensland University of Technology, learned while trying to implement a new digital signage system, and will follow logical steps from digital signage to iOS apps.

Topics covered include:

  • the role of IT in student and staff communication
  • why you should have a digital signage system (focusing on RiseVision open source digital signage)
  • implementing a signage system cheaply (because your job is expendable)
  • moving information to apps (including Phonegap, HTML5 for beginners, Xcode and publishing)

This talk is meant for anyone who has an interest in how we should use technology as a method for clearer communication within our workplaces and to our clients. A little knowledge of HTML/CSS and JavaScript will be helpful but not necessary.


Adam currently works in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology within the newly named Digital Services team.

His team is moving away from everyday IT support to embracing, facilitating and supporting new types of digital communication techniques for the faculty. Adam’s role is in supervising the introduction of new technology, supporting legacy systems and  procurement, and finding ways to help academic staff improve engagement with students across our campus using innovative ideas.


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