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The use of communication and information technology as both an administrative tool and a support mechanism for instruction has been relatively widely used since the 1960's. More than 40 years later C&IT has become ubiquitous and considerably more sophisticated particularly with e-Iearning and m-learning options. In its precursor format Edith Cowan University began using computer based training in 1975 using a time sharing minicomputer and text based screens. Thirty years later ECU has a sophisticated communications network in place and a T&L strategy to provide the infrastructure necessary to gain the benefits from an e-learning model supporting conventional University learning paradigms. In 2003 ECU began a project known as "The ECU Advantage" and it centered on expanding e-learning to a particular m-learning model for trial in 2004. Preparation included lecturer training, updating the ECU network, ensuring curriculum materials were available in a satisfactory electronic format and of course selecting and providing a mobile environment (in this case IBM laptop computers). Other mobile options are still under consideration but the creation and development of appropriate learning materials has taken precedence over expanding technological options. The first part of the ECU Advantage trials were undertaken in 2004 with a second iteration commencing in 2005. The outcome of the 2004 research has focused changes for the 2005 implementation. The ECU Advantage Project planned for an independent evaluation which was undertaken by Queensland University of Technology (2004). Some of their findings and data from a sample of students are included in this paper along with ECU's interpretation of the project outcome to date. The paper also outlines the differences in the 2005 version of the project over the 2004 version after lessons learned and the findings of the evaluation team. In this section we look at further opportunities and difficulties in expanding the ECU Advantage Pr

With this paper we present the findings of a qualitative study providing baseline information on staff attitudes towards learning in a performing arts setting. The pedagogy for learning in performing arts courses has arisen, in part, from master-apprenticeship relationships between students and expert practitioners. This study is an exploration of how these traditional patterns of learning translate to a university environment and of the pedagogical expectations and processes of actors, singers and dancers. The location of this study is the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia (WAAPA@ECU). It is an elite training school for students wishing to pursue careers on the screen and stage as actors, dancers, musicians or producers/directors. The study was prompted by a recognition that WAAPA@ECU produces nationally and internationally recognised 'excellent outcomes'. It is, therefore, informed by an interest in the pedagogy of excellence in a performing arts setting.

This article draws on the work of Foucault to construct a history of the invention and introduction of media studies in the Australian context through the analysis of two of its epistemological regimes: audience studies and media production. In so doing, it challenges contemporary assumptions about the subject's foundations, purposes, and achievements, most significant the belief that the story of media education is a story of seamless progress marked by the movement from a protectionist philosophy to one that approaches the media as a representational system. Questioning the normative, taken-for-granted history and conduct of a school subject does not necessarily mean that a subject will, or should, be changed. However, there exists at least the opportunity to bring about change when current practices can be located and understood in terms of historical contingency rather than the more common change and reform rhetoric of curriculum developers.

This paper presents the findings of a cooperative research project between the authors and local employers in Western Australia. The project aimed to produce a critical competencies and skills assessment tool for students in work-based learning situations which was: 1. Seen to be of value to employers; and 2. Applicable across disciplines and different work sites. The tool has the potential to be web-based and employers' assessments can be compiled as a portfolio for the individual student. In the next phase of this research students will be encouraged to produce a work competencies portfolio using the critical competencies and skills assessment tool that will encompass casual and voluntary employment and add value to all work-related experience throughout the entire duration of their tertiary studies.

This paper seeks to determine the affordances of Smartpen technology for adult learners in an ESL learning environment by identifying the ways in which Smartpens are used by participants to facilitate their learning. The Pulse™ Smartpen records audio and links the audio to handwritten notes, which can then be uploaded to a computer. Through the use of Smartpens, research participants were provided with opportunities to create a series of podcasts linked to notes taken during workshops conducted in a second or other language teaching and learning environment. Interviews conducted with participants indicated that the Smartpen provides enhanced learning opportunities in the areas of comprehension, pronunciation, and intonation. Smartpen use also affords improved learning retention by increasing cognitive associations with the target knowledge. Future research would extend Smartpen use to a wider group of international students with a view to investigating the possible benefits of enhanced note taking strategies.

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This thesis investigates the history of the construction of knowledge in the school subject media studies using the Western Australian experience as the case for the study. It seeks to explain why the subject media studies looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The problems addressed are first, why was this subject introduced into the curriculum in the 1970s. Secondly, how has the knowledge in the subject been defined and contested, how and why has it changed in the course of the subject’s history. Thirdly, which knowledge attains the status of truth and becomes the accepted definition of what the subject is about.

Si bien es cada vez más frecuente el uso de los textos visuales en el aula, no siempre –por desgracia– se parte de planteamientos profundos que justifiquen su uso y los encuadren con un sentido plural e innovador dentro del currículum escolar. Los autores de este trabajo se centran en fundamentar, de una forma sistemática, el lugar que la comunicación audiovisual ha de tener en el currículum escolar, tanto desde su vertiente receptivacomo productiva..

Teague C., Quin R., Green L., Bahn S. (2014). Transit officer training recommendations to improve safety in a high stress environment. International Journal of Training Research, 12(1), 16-28. Available here