Author: aucadmin

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.

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.

  9.7 MB

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.

  452.8 MB

Malcolm Riddoch, Edith Cowan University Part of CW12

The presentation covers teaching and learning problems in the sonic arts sector involving developing a student appreciation of the musicality of environmental sound through an understanding of basic acoustics, psychophysiological and neuronal aspects of sound perception as well as a phenomenological uncovering of sound in itself. Practical aspects of aural training, field recording and multitrack acousmatic composition are also covered in terms of the balance between theoria and praxis in the classroom.

Susan Yue Hua Sun, Auckland University of Technology Part of CW12

While many people are yet to be convinced that fully-online language courses are capable of developing learners’ oral/spoken language skills, strong empirical evidence is starting to emerge. It shows that online language learners’ oral skills can be adequately, if not exceedingly well, developed through the use of the increasingly sophisticated online tools, especially voice tools, e.g., Blackboard Wimba Voice Board, Voice Presentation, Voice Authoring, and the latest available Blackboard Collaborate, etc.

This study looks into two fully online Chinese language papers in a New Zealand University, and examines how the development of student oral skills takes place, i.e., their curriculum designs, technology choices, pedagogical considerations behind, and assessments related to oral language development. Needless to say, the technology choices are at the central place in the discussion, as the two papers are taught in the total absence of the traditional face-to-face classroom and its success or even just its survival are decidedly relied on online technology.

The examination will focus on the use of Wimba Voice Board, Voice Presentation, and Voice Authoring, and painstakingly point out their strengths and weaknesses. The inadequacy of technology and the frustrations which have been felt by the instructors along the way will also be detailed and discussed. Finally, commentary is made with regard to the latest available online tool – Blackboard Collaborate in Blackboard Learn.

This study concludes that through careful design and use of online voice tools such Voice Board and Voice Presentation, students’ oral skills can be well-developed in total-online language courses.

  2.8 MB

Luke Monsour, Griffith University Part of CW12

This presentation will provide a brief overview of current production options for shooting stereoscopic media (S3D). It will look particularly at camera and stereo rig options, basic S3D workflow, and available post production pathways, with a particular focus on education.