Author: aucadmin

Richard Stals, Edith Cowan University Part of CW12

In a recent project, I developed a series of prototype 3D Serious Games using the Unity3D game engine.

One of the prototypes sparked a great deal of interest from both academics as well as students and has been further developed into a pre-release version of the game.
The game/simulation is a real-world disaster scenario that is designed to train Paramedic students in Mass Casualty Incident Triage.

Initially it was developed as a SCORM compliant module that can be loaded into the school’s Learning Management System like Moodle or Blackboard. In order to explore the utility of the game further, I have developed a version for the iPad.

In this session you will learn how you can begin your creative journey into 3D serious games using a combination of free and low cost tools and resources.

Adrian Stagg & Dr Helen Farley, University of Southern Queensland Part of CW12

Religious and spiritual communities have leveraged the enormous potential of the internet to provide information to worshippers but also bring them together as a faith community. They have used chat rooms, discussion boards and podcasting to create or augment that sense of community generally only experienced at a service or religious festival. Virtual worlds, however, offer a step beyond what is traditionally seen as ‘supplementary’ religious information by creating online sacred spaces. It is within these spaces (be they churches, mosques or henges) that worshippers – through motional avatars –come together and worship. Adherents and participants claim that their worship experience in this space is genuine, yet this raises numerous issues around legitimacy, authority and authenticity.

The virtual world of Second Life is home to many religious buildings and spaces. Communities sometimes overtly, sometimes less so, come together to discuss religion, study scripture and often to participate in rituals, festivals or religious services. While many are undoubtedly genuine in their involvement (using it to augment or replace their real life religious activities), many more are experimenting with new faiths or roleplaying as an intellectual curiosity. This paper will explore the diversity of religious activity in Second Life, while pre-empting how religious practice in this space may evolve with the advent of new technologies such as Microsoft Kinect.

Hohepa Spooner, Auckland University of Technology Part of CW12

Teachers in tertiary education need strategies to communicate directly and individually with students and engage them with technology advances like iBooks Author to shape and entice educational experiences for them. The Apple iPad with the iBooks Author application and the iPad iBooks app has the potential to make what was previously the preserve of technology-savvy educators, access to effective and efficient pedagogy in an easy and intuitive way. My presentation will cover how the use of the iPad and Apple applications in teaching over the last 10 months is used to enhance engagement with learning for tertiary teaching.

Andrew Bennett, University of Tasmania Part of CW12

This presentation is targeted at artists, it will give a brief overview of Apple’s devices, how an artist and a developer is impacted by supporting each display, and how artists and developers can make things easier for each other.

The presentation will outline some of Apple’s technologies, introduce some apps, and blend in composition technique. All of this aims to make life easier for both art and dev while maintaining a consistent and usable design.

The presentation will then go into real-world challenges of resolution independent art in shipping apps, and as a solution presents a simple art/design workflow.

Pamela Weatherill, Edith Cowan University Part of CW12

Interpersonal communication as a central workplace skill is well established. The skills required to effectively create and maintain these relationships shift however, when the communication takes place via computers (including tablets, laptops and smart phones). Workplaces often struggle with issues around digital communication technology, simply due to a lack of reflective skills building in areas such as evaluation of messages, paralinguistic text construction, reading non-linear messages and more simply developing an effective online voice. In many workplaces relationships are created and maintained with staff, virtual teams, customers, management and suppliers almost solely with text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC). While the use of SMS, chat software, email, discussion boards, wikis and social media are common place for relationship building in both personal and professional settings, there has been little reflection regarding the micro skills required to do this effectively in the workplace. This presentation focuses particularly on the skills sets and micro skills of interpersonal CMC required of tertiary graduates when they enter the workforce.

As part of a larger research project, this presentation focuses on feedback from employers of tertiary graduates across the 17 ANZSIC industry codes, and a review of relevant literature, to establish a model outlining the skills, and micro skills required for effective interpersonal CMC. With the intention being for use by online curriculum developers, the research has culminated in a comprehensive review of the generic graduate employability skills, and parallel skills required by graduate students – or indeed any professional in the workplace.

Oleksander Motyka, University of Sydney Part of CW12

A case study on the inception, development and promotion of the University of Sydney app. The case study will cover:

• Understanding our audience and it’s needs
• Deciding how to implement the app (in house, off the shelf, contractors etc) and what platforms to support (iOS, Android, web)
• The implementation, it’s hurdles (we had to create many new web services to expose data to the app) and the resources required (over 15 staff work on various aspects)
• Marketing the app (the University undertook a large campaign) and user adoption
• Reflection and lessons learnt

I believe that many Universities would be interested in the process my University undertook to deliver a mobile app in particular why we chose the particular path we did.

The presentation will not require any technical knowledge.

Sue and Brent Gregory, University of New England Part of CW12

The presentation will cover 3D virtual worlds, demonstrating ways in which to impart knowledge in interactive, engaging and authentic means. If students can learn in an authentic setting and become engaged in interactive mediums, they will remember content better. This presentation will demonstrate how students can learn in authentic 3D settings with their peers or by themselves.

Jimmy Ti, Queensland University of Technology Part of CW12

Scene Kit is a 3D-rendering Objective-C framework that combines a high-performance rendering engine with a high-level, descriptive API. Scene Kit supports the import, manipulation, and rendering of 3D assets without requiring the exact steps to render a scene the way OpenGL does.

Because Scene Kit integrates with Image Kit and Core Animation, you do not need advanced 3D graphical programming skills. For example, you can embed a 3D scene into a layer and then use Core Animation compositing capabilities to add overlays and backgrounds. You can also use Core Animation layers as textures for your 3D objects in 3D scenes.

– Introduction to SceneKit
– Key Features of SceneKit
– Demo of SceneKit

Zac Fitz-Walter, Queensland University of Technology Part of CW12

Adding game elements to an application to motivate use and enhance the user experience is a growing trend known as gamification. This presentation discusses the use of game achievements when applied to a mobile application designed to help new students at university. I discuss Orientation Passport, a personalised orientation event application for smart phones which utilises game achievements to present orientation information in an engaging way and to encourage use of the application. The system is explained, the findings of two studies are discussed with recommendations made those who want to create similar apps. The presentation covers the intersection of education, motivation and video games.

David Yammouni, Swinburne University Part of CW12

I plan to talk about the experience of creating Wheels for the Mind as an iPad app. After many years of Wheels being a print publication, we finally decided to create a digital version. Starting completely from scratch, our graphic designer created the iPad app & I will talk about the planning process, production & final output of our first (& possibly last) digital edition.