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PHIL LONGAn avatar of UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) Professor Deborah Terry watches onas UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield cuts the opening ribbon for CEIT in Second LifeTeaching success avirtual realityVirtual learning environmentsand science experimentsconducted through webbrowsers are just the tip ofthe iceberg when it comesto Australia’s first centre ofleadership in educationalinnovation at UQ.The University’s new Centre for EducationalInnovation and Technology (CEIT) opened inNovember, and positions UQ at the forefrontof research into teaching and learningtechnologies to be disseminated to universitiesaround the world.From remote online laboratories wherestudents and educators are provided withunlimited access to iLab experiments, to lecturebrowsers that allow students to pinpoint and tagwords or phrases from within the audio track ofa lecture stream, eliminating hours of searching,the research potential of CEIT is endless.CEIT’s digital innovations are continuationsof projects started with the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) iCampus Project,a Microsoft/MIT Research and Development(R&D) partnership.UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching andLearning) Professor Deborah Terry said UQ wasproud to be leading Australia when it came toeducational innovation.“The potential impact of CEIT on teachingand learning worldwide is enormous and atthe centre is the intellectual synergy of The“The potentialimpact of CEIT onteaching andlearning worldwideis enormous’’University of Queensland’s researchers andacademics, powering a new digital educationage,” Professor Terry said.“The University is already the iLabsAustralasian distribution hub. This will becomplemented by focused attention on activelearning supported by electronic studentportfolios and online tutoring systems, whichwill be among the other key projects to beundertaken at CEIT.”The centre’s research is not limitedto schools and tertiary institutions, withcommunity groups, industry and governmentalso having access to the technology, whilestudents will work on projects.CEIT founding director UQ Professor PhilLong, who comes to the University from MIT,will be instrumental in creating access tothe latest research on technology-assistedteaching and learning, assisted by UQ iCampusco-ordinator Dr Mark Schulz as the centre’sAssociate Director.Professor Long said he aimed to developa cohort of CEIT Fellows – UQ staff in differentdisciplines seconded to the centre to exploreopportunities to develop and integrate digitaltechnologies in their areas of interest.“For example, we are looking at workingcollaboratively with the Queensland BrainInstitute to study the brain functions that go on ina student’s mind while they learn,” he said.Professor Long said the new outlook didnot mean the death of the lecture, rather CEITwould re-examine what was most effectivelyexpressed face-to-face versus what couldbe done through other means.“This includes studying how to makeresearch tools more widely available tostudents so they can practise being apart of the disciplinary communities theyare studying, working with comparableresources that are a part of the laboratories orother academic workspaces of their academicstaff,” he said.– ELIZA PLANTUQ LAUNCHESiCOURSETo sample the innovative teachingpractices at The University ofQueensland, look no further thanyour iPhone.Offered for the first time in March, COMP3000 (Designing Mobile Applications) willchallenge students to create programs formobile devices such as phones, organisersand PDAs, and is believed to be the firstuniversity course of its type in the country.Teaching Coordinator Aaron Tan, fromthe School of Information Technology andElectrical Engineering (ITEE) and Centrefor Educational Innovation and Technology(CEIT), said the subject tapped into theenormous demand for mobile applicationsand linked with new products about to hitthe market.“Courses like this have been verypopular in the US, so I think that there isinterest on campus, students just haven’tbeen given an outlet to express it,” Mr Tansaid.Mr Tan said COMP 3000 students wouldcreate applications on the iPhone andAndroid operating systems, and requireda working knowledge of programming tosuccessfully complete the course. Interestedstudents from fields other than IT andengineering were also encouraged to apply.The teaching team will include Mr Tan, DrMark Schulz and teaching guru and head ofCEIT Professor Phil Long. Guest speakers fromthe IT and mobile industries will also take part.COMP 3000, offered as an elective tothe first 20 students to apply, culminatesin a group project where students have toproduce and present a new application forassessment. The students with the bestpitch will each receive a $200 prize.Mr Tan said the most popular mobileapplications (known as “apps”) weregames, but there were also many practicaloptions including yoga trainers, weatherforecasters and tools to help people quitsmoking.“We want to bring in (UQ technologytransfer company) UniQuest and (copyrightadvisor group) Creative Commons to letstudents know what opportunities existoutside the University,” he said.INFO ➔ www.itee.uq.edu.au/~comp3000/JEREMY PATTENUQNEWS, FEBRUARY 2009 ➔ 17