Pre-Conference Workshops

REGISTER NOW or contact our conference team

New to the VITTA Conference ~ Pre-Conference Workshops SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2009

The aim of the Pre-Conference workshops is to provide:

• teacher professional learning to achieve ready to go skills and expertise for student activities
• professional learning in a classroom environment to aid planning and resource management
• deliver longer sessions for modularised courses

VITTA wishes to thank Strathcona and Soundhouse for providing the venues for VITTA's inaugural Pre-Conference workshops.

*Individuals who wish to register for pre-conference workshops without registering for the Slide to Open - digital learning conference may register at www.vitta.org.au/trainingevents.

A101 Pre-Conference Workshop Sunday November 22
From iMovie to Final Cut ~ Dr Tim Kitchen
Full Day Workshop 9:00am to 4:00pm

Final Cut Pro is considered by many in the TV, Video & Film industry as the industry standard video editing software. Final Cut Express is the affordable version that is ideal for schools who are looking for a video editing solution that is simple to use and does not have the limitations of iMovie. This is an all day hands-on workshop to be run at the Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar School Multimedia Centre.

Dr Tim Kitchen, the Head of Learning Technologies at Strathcona will be guiding participants through the art of filming on location and in the Strathcona TV studio. Final Cut Express, Apple's LiveType, Garage Band & iDVD will all be taught and used to create short video stories (that feature special effects like chroma keying) that can be burned onto DVD or exported into an Internet friendly file for downloading or streaming.

All participants will receive a CD of video tutorials created by Dr Kitchen for future reference.

Maximum of 15 participants

A102 Pre-Conference Workshop Sunday November 22
Create Teacher Learning Objects using EXE ~ Derek Wenmoth
Full Day Workshop 9:00am to 4:00pm

A103 Pre-Conference Workshop Sunday November 22
Informed ICT Leadership ~ Dr Therese Keane
Half Day Workshop 1:00pm to 4:00pm

While growing numbers of schools have an Information and Communications Technology leader, the role is defined in a variety of different ways. As position descriptions vary from school to school, there is surprisingly little consensus on who an Information and Communications Technology leader should be or what the position should entail. Although the role of the Information and Communications Technology leader in schools has not been formally investigated as much as that of Principals, some commentators have begun to suggest that Information and Communications Technology leaders have a crucial role to play.

In Australia, Information and Communications Technology leaders in secondary schools have been given a variety of position titles. In some schools the position is treated as a senior role, while in others it is not terribly important. Financial remuneration and time allowance for the Information and Communications Technology leader role varies. In addition, no system-wide description of the role or expectation of an Information and Communications Technology leader exists. Moreover, there are differences in practice as to what kinds of experience and qualifications are necessary to undertake this role.

In describing the Information and Communications Technology leadership role, research was conducted to obtain perspectives from a variety of personnel in key leadership positions in schools as well as teacher perspectives to evaluate the similarity and differences of perspectives. From the research it was identified that to be an effective Information and Communications Technology leader, one needs to have experience and skills in four specific areas. The four specific areas are:

• Resources/Equity
• Pedagogy
• Professional Development
• External Factors

The pre-conference workshop will explore this important leadership role with a mixture of hands-on experience and theory to provide participants with a clearer vision of the role description.

This session is both presentation and hands on workshop.



B101 Pre-Conference Workshop Sunday November 22
Free and easy stuff that Rocks – Tips and tricks from Soundhouse.com.au ~ Ken Owen
Half Day Workshop 9:00am to 12:00pm
Suitable for Primary and Secondary Schools, for all teachers. MAC/PC

Want to have some great activities that kids will love to complete in class? Spend some time at Soundhouse and have a play with some software that you can use in your class the next day. Whether for recording, scoring, composing and playing, there are so many simple tools that can help make class time interesting and productive.

During this “hands on workshop you will :

• Record and edit audio files to save in a variety of formats for use in Digital Storytelling, Podacasts, films.
• Create original and contemporary music for use in all range of media including audio CD and web.
• Learn how to create original scores or musical arrangements to publishing standards.

All software used is free or inexpensive and simple to access and use at school. Notes and resources provided to get you stared at school and home right away.

B102 Pre-Conference Workshop Sunday November 22
A Classroom that Rocks~ Ken Owen
Half Day Workshop 1:00am to 4:00pm
Suitable for Primary and Secondary Music Teachers. PC/MAC

A Silent Rock band in class….you’re kidding right?
There are new and innovative resources that can help you get everyone playing music in your class. Come and play some music in the “Soundgarage” our new trial incorporate the latest video modelling aids and instructional software.
Students can learn the basics of Piano, Bass, Drums and Guitar as they play together in a the class band. Transform you music classes.
In this workshop you will:

• Play in a group performance (even if you have never played music before).
• Work with Gigajam and Show Me How To Play resources .
• Look at a variety of strategies to create a practical Classroom environment.
• Work with arrangement and accompaniment software.

B103 Pre-Conference Workshop Sunday November 22
Machinima, using Computer Games to Create Animation ~ Gene Geoffery
Half Day Workshop 9:00am to 12:00pm
Suitable for Primary and Secondary Music Teachers. PC

Engage students with a medium they love - computer games. This day is all about putting popular game tools to unexpected ends - a process known as "Machinima". Step into this cutting edge world of 3D animation technique which is currently exploding on the net and allowing students to create 3D animated narratives. Use Machinima to learn the language of film-making and visual literacy. Utilise popular computer games such as Oblivion to capture a range of different shots and story lines, capture the vision in real time then edit the shots together. You can add your own narration, music and sound effects.

• Understand Machinima
• Using capture software and editing
• Using green screen to place students in front of animation

B104 Pre-Conference Workshop Sunday November 22
Virtual Worlds exploring Secondlife and Openism ~ Ken Owen
Half Day Workshop 1:00am to 4:00pm
Suitable for Secondary Teachers. PC

3D Virtual Worklds offer a range of new and exciting possibilities for educators and their students. The platform provides tools which allow users to build their own environments, create highly personalised avatars, clothes, vehicles and all sorts of amazing virtual objects. Second Life is a completely user-generated 3D environment that comes with relatively easy-to-use building and scripting tools that anyone can learn. This makes it an ideal platform for engaging students in creating their own learning activities, experiences and environments, rather than simply being passive consumers of learning.

• The unique qualities of 3D virtual worlds provide opportunities for:
• Authentic contexts and activities for experiential learning
• Simulation and role play
• Modeling of complex scenarios
• A platform for data visualization
• Opportunities for collaboration and co-creation that can not be easily experienced using other platforms