2010+Case%20Study

=Name of Project: Virtually Here = = = =Executive Summary = The Virtually Here Project has provided opportunities for collaborative interaction and improved communication for students who are geographically isolated and enrolled in VET Certificate I & II Hospitality through Tasmanian Polytechnic and Online Campus. http://www.polytechnic.tas.edu.au/ http://www.education.tas.gov.au/oln/onlinecampus

To improve the communication, class discussion and interaction opportunities for students, the virtual worlds of Second Life (for adult learners) http://secondlife.com/ and Reaction Grid (for students who are under 18 years of age) http://reactiongrid.com/ were used.

The students in the targeted VET Certificate I & II Hospitality online class were located at seven different rural/isolated communities throughout Tasmania. The provision of a class space with social presence for students and teachers to communicate, build relationships, develop a sense of belonging and class identity has been a focus of this project. In the past, it has been difficult to have group and class interaction and communication. This provided a synchronous, engaging and immersive environment where the teacher and the class could meet on a regular basis, as well as enabling increased potential for building relationships, which is a key principal of best practice in all teaching and learning. The opportunity to develop a sense of belonging for individuals and a group identity for the class in this shared space was particularly valuable and very empowering for these students, who often learn in isolation. In the long term, replicating a real life environment to support learning through experiential role play and action learning was envisioned.

In addition the Virtually Here Project has been a journey of exploration to help make learning a more engaging, interactive and empowering experience.

The virtual classroom was used as an additional tool for learning and assessment and provided opportunities for structured and self directed discussions and interactions, student directed learning, teacher directed learning activities, dialogue, reflection, sharing and collaboration, team and individual problem solving, role play and inquiry, facilitated by the teacher. The project provided exposure of educational uses of virtual worlds to local teachers, principals and parents as well as an opportunity for teachers to be learners alongside their students.

The strategies and technologies from this project could be adapted for use in delivery of a range of relevant units of competency customised to suit different training packages.


 * * ==**[|Case Study - Virtually Here]: PDF 800KB**==
 * ==**Project Videos**==
 * ==Help Videos==
 * ==Advice on obtaining evidence for reflection and assessment==
 * ==**Project Photos**==
 * ==[|eLearning Design Map] **and [|Notes]**==
 * ==[|Parent and student information]: PowerPoint 1.7MB== || [[image:tasnew3.jpg width="326" height="248"]] ||

=Acknowledgement=

This is a Tasmanian E-learning Innovations project output, developed by the Tasmanian Polytechnic and the Tasmanian Department of Education, with seed funding from the Framework.

=For more information=

For more information on the Australian Flexible Learning Framework: Phone: 07 3307 4700 Email: enquiries@flexiblelearning.net.au Website: flexiblelearning.net.au