Presentations

AUC_Conference_2007_Proceedings.pdf (27.38 MB)

Paul Draper, Griffith University.
"Contribute, Communicate, Collaborate: The Internet as Workplace in the Digital Arts"

Draper_Paul.pdf (1.45 MB)
The twenty-first century has brought great advantages to a new digital workforce, empowered by affordable technologies and global networks. This also brings greater casualisation for those who must negotiate increasingly borderless workplaces. Nowhere is this more present than in the creative industries where new breeds of digital artists now ply their independent wares on an international stage. For creative and performing arts students to be able to negotiate such a setting, universities need to revise their notions of ‘authentic’ training, particularly in areas of on-line delivery, work-integrated learning and intellectual property. Pedagogy, curricula and access need a rethink.

Gareth Evans, Andrew Noskoff & Michael Bulmer, University of Queensland.
"Cross-Entropy Optimization using Xgrid"
Xgrid provides a simple interface and architecture for distributed computing. In this paper we discuss the use of Xgrid on an undergraduate teaching network consisting of 162 eMacs situated in a number of computing labs. We give an overview of the setup and the results of a test of the grid for calculating π. We then introduce Cross-Entropy optimization, a recently developed method that is amenable to parallel implementation. Optimization results and performance are given for varying numbers of grid nodes, demonstrating the successful scalability of parallel computing on the Xgrid.

Phillip McKerrow, Qinghua Lu, Zhi Quan Zhou and Li Chen. University of Wollongong.
"Developing real-time systems in Java on Macintosh"

McKerrow_Phillip_Java.pdf (2.03 MB)
In this paper, we examine the advantage of writing real-time applications and operating systems in type-safe languages, such as Java. In this context, we look at the issues of using Java in real-time systems and the development tools available on Macintosh computers. Finally, we explore the potential of the Sun SPOT system: a credit-card sized Java computer with input/output, and a wireless network, that runs the Squawk JVM. It is planned to be released in Australia in the third quarter of 2007.

Rivka Niesten, Edith Cowan University
"Harnessing the Power"
The Harnessing the Power project at Edith Cowan University is a project designed around iLife. The program commenced at the beginning of 2006 and is ongoing. The aim of the project was to deliver computer-based audio and video training to staff and students using GarageBand and iMovie.
It was generally found that programs in the iLife suite were easy to use in a short timeframe and enjoyable by end users. Students were generally happier with their final products than staff as they had more time to develop these. The three main problems encountered by users were lack of time, lack of access and different platform. It was found that incidental learning took place if staff and students had access to additional programs. When contrasting GarageBand with a PC alternative, Audacity, it was found that staff had greater success and enjoyment using Garageband. It appears that if there is sufficient time and access to the iLife programs, this technology could be easily implemented both as a tool for staff to distribute their lectures as well as a way for students to do project work and learn the skills they require for working in today’s digital world.

Kate Foy, University of Southern Queensland
"Caught in the Web: Twitting, Podding, Blogging and Mashing."
The proliferation of what’s come to be known as Web 2.0 applications and services contains the potential for their use in a range of academic work: teaching and learning, community engagement, and research. The speed of introduction, and the range of available tools, including the newer ‘social networking’ applications can be overwhelming. The selection of appropriate tools can also be challenging to the educator who wishes to take advantage of the tools’ popularity with their students, and to integrate them into course materials. The paper discusses these issues from the perspective of a creative arts academic experimenting with the use of online tools. It includes comment on the resistance by some students to engagement with them and suggests an approach which may assist in overcoming this resistance.

James Steele, University of Canberra
"Commodity Hardware and Software for High End Professional Video Applications in Tertiary Teaching"

Steele_James_Video.pdf (6.92 MB)
These days most off-the-shelf consumer computers can, in the hands of skilled creative professionals with the right tools, produce professional quality photographs and audio and video productions. The Macintosh has led this trend with its support for consumer and professional media production through connectivity to production equipment (providing industry standard interfaces like USB and FireWire), application suites like iLife and Final Cut Studio, and media handling through QuickTime.

Tony Featherstone, Edith Cowan University
"CATEGORISING, SEARCHING and REFLECTING WITH VIDEO"
Researchers are increasingly using video for research purposes including interviewing, stimulated recall and general observation of learning process. This increasing use has lead to demand for efficient ways of transcribing, coding, searching and retrieving this video. There is also demand for programs that enable students to view pertinent video and then to reflect what they have viewed either for general learning purposes or assessment. Artichoke is a program that facilitates all these functions. It is designed to run on Macintosh or Windows platforms, creates small files, is fast and appears to have wide applicability in teaching, learning and in research generally. It is useful wherever video is collected and where this video needs to be efficiently searched and retrieved using codes.

Natalie Cooper, Lisa Kosta, Lori Lockyer, Ian Brown, University of Wollongong
"Making News Today: Content creation in the classroom"

 Cooper_Natalie.pdf (6.08 MB)
The continued development of software such as iMovie and GarageBand has given young people the tools to become content creators. The proliferation of Internet sites such as YouTube and MySpace have provided publishing vehicles where they can now contribute their content and communicate with their peers around the world. Social commentators and educational researchers are suggesting there is a growing divide between how these digital natives spend their leisure time creating and sharing media and the void of such activities in educational settings. It is argued that learning is, in fact, taking place for young people in this informal environment. But, how can we formalise this learning and close this purported growing divide between the social and educational environments? This paper reports on a research study that was initiated in the early days of iMovie and at a time before YouTube and MySpace. This project has been a collaborative effort of university-based academics and high schools teachers supported by Apple Computers Australia and WIN Television to design implement an educational program in which students analyse media and create and share digital video news. This paper describes this educational program in which students create, contribute and communicate and the research investigation that is being undertaken to understand the teaching and learning outcomes of the program.

Rob Phillips and Janice Orrell, Murdoch University. Jenny Millea, education.au limited.
"The Initial Stages of Development of the Carrick Exchange"

Phillips_Rob.pdf (14.60 MB)
The development of the Carrick Exchange is a major initiative of the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. The Carrick Exchange will combine a learning and teaching repository function with a Web 2.0 social networking capability – a MySpace for academics. It is aimed at those who teach, manage and lead in Higher Education in Australia. This paper reports on the initial stages of development. In particular, imaginary scenarios were used to envision the nature and the scope of the project. This work led to the identification of numerous human and technical issues which need to be addressed for the Carrick Exchange to be sustainable

Lloyd Johnson, Murdoch University
"MyMurdoch: A Case Study of a Virtual Student Community at Murdoch University"

Johnson_Lloyd.pdf (6.97 MB)
Virtual Communities are becoming a prevalent part of student life in Universities around the world. The Internet makes it possible for students to communicate regardless of their location, timetable or increasingly time starved lifestyle. MyMurdoch is a Virtual Community project currently running at Murdoch University in Western Australia. It is entirely created, maintained and owned by students from the university. This case study examines the business, technological and societal dimensions of the MyMurdoch project.

Mark McMahon & Joe Luca, Edith Cowan University
"JAMTART: An online performance support system for project management."

McMahon_Mark.pdf (3.63 MB)
The continuing focus on generic skills in higher education and the embedding of graduate attributes into university policy and planning requires a rethink of how such generic skills can be promoted in a holistic and contextual manner. JAMTART is a product that has been developed to address key generic skills processes inherent in the project management of team-based interactive media development. The three main modules of Self-assessment, Team monitoring, and Reporting and reflection are tied closely to the planning, monitoring and evaluation inherent in metacognitive processing. This paper describes the product in the light of this underpinning theory.

David Hood, Otago University
"I ♥ TV: broadcasting teaching via the web"

Hood_David.pdf (1.05 MB)
IT Training at the University of Otago has been using a combination of free software to broadcast the actions we are performing a display computer, plus audio commentary, to any other computer connected to the internet. Through using a 'broadcast television' metaphor that participants are familiar with, those receiving the broadcast can concentrate on the content of the lecture rather than the technical process of receiving the information.

Phillip McKerrow, Qinghua Lu, and Zhi Quan Zhou and Li Chen, University of Wollongong.
"Software development of embedded systems on Macintosh"

McKerrow_Phillip_Embed.pdf (1.47 MB)
The development of embedded systems on Macintosh has been constrained by a lack of software tools. In this paper, we look at a number of tools for developing embedded software on a Macintosh host. Also, we examine the advantage of writing embedded applications in high-level, type-safe languages. In this context, we discuss programming PIC micro-controllers in C, Basic Stamps in PBasic and TINI micro-controller in Java.

Edward Palmer and Peter Devitt, Adelaide University
"The Evolution of Interactive Learning Material for Medical Students"
Computing technology and the place of computers in our society has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. How have computer aided learning packages evolved in this time and what is likely to eventuate in the future? The program Medici and its evolution are discussed. The need for adaptation from a pure networked environment to a CD based package and finally to its present form as an online and iPod based interactive educational tool are explained. The methods used to make the transition from one form to the next are illustrated. The use of technology in education is likely to become more portable, but students still desire the ability to work on educational material without having to rely on the internet or expensive portable devices.

Ric Lowe, Curtin University
"Animating ideas: Communicating complex dynamic content"
The broadband environment removes previous technical barriers to using animated explanations for online and mixed mode learning. University teachers are keenly taking up the opportunities this environment offers for animated presentation of dynamic content, especially with complex subject matter that learners find demanding. However, merely presenting animations of demanding content may be ineffective, even when such presentations communicate in a highly realistic manner. Contrary to the widespread belief that animation is intrinsically beneficial for learning, research is showing why its great potential for benefit too often remains unfulfilled in practice. The challenge for those who wish to provide students with educationally effective animated explanations is to ensure that these resources are appropriately designed and supported. Until recently, university teachers and educational designers were largely reliant on their intuitions and experience to guide the development of instructional animations. Unfortunately, such guidance may be unreliable and misleading, with the results in terms of learning being disappointing. This presentation details key design factors to be considered when developing animations intended to foster learning of complex dynamic content and argues the need for new approaches to guide design. It presents examples and practical strategies for improving the contribution that such animations can make to learning.

Choon Jin NG and Masahiro Takatsuka, The University of Sydney
"Bonjour-based Collaboration Service In a Remote Collaborative Environment"
Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a widely used remote desktop technology. However, it provides only one collaborative function; shared desktop viewing. Interaction with the desktop is limited to a single user. In this paper, we propose a new collaboration framework using a proxy architecture, which assists dynamic integration of collaboration services using Bonjour technology. Regardless of their platforms, services can virtually stem from any existing software or a proprietary created one, and be deployed into the VNC-based collaborative environment. The prototype created demonstrates the new capabilities of underlying architecture that makes this possible, namely, the Service-Oriented Remote Collaboration framework.

Greg Giannis, Victoria University.
“Peripato Telematikos”, an exercise in social cartography and public authoring"
This paper describes my current project “Peripato Telematikos”, an exercise in social cartography and public authoring, drawing influences from performance studies and art. As this is intended for an audience interested in technology and its use in education, I will focus on these aspects, but will nevertheless give an overview to put these aspects in context. The project relies on public participation to ‘map’ a locale or neighbourhood. The mapping process requires participants to undertake guided walks and use a mobile phone to send images of interest during the walk. The images are sent to a custom hardware and software system, composing a gsm/gprs modem, sms/mms gateway software, php scripts and a mysql database. All entries are stored in the database and await approval. Once approved the images are immediately available for viewing and manipulation through an applet at the website http://www.peripato.net. The applet implements an experimental interface developed by the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland that allows ‘zooming’ of all content. This allows the content to be manipulated by visitors to the site, allowing for an emergent montage of media elements. Zooming was unique to interfaces until OS X, where it has been adopted in a minimal way for the Dock and Dashboard and Expose GUI elements. Aside from the technical aspects, the project’s relevance to education as discovered during the course of this research will also be discussed.

James Steele, University of Canberra.
"How to use the Macintosh to Geocode media for Google Earth and Google Maps"

Steele_James_GPS.pdf (5.12 MB)
Google Earth and Google Maps are making the world smaller and more visible. All sorts of ingenious applications are being developed to give data location: tourism, media, real estate, disease, sport, the list goes on. In his presentation James will show you how to use a range of applications to use raster topographical maps to plan routes, navigate them via GPS, display the routes in Google Earth and Google Maps with geocoded photographs and other data, and share these with the community.

Colin Warren, Deakin University.
"Using Social Software? I Want That One!"

Warren_Colin.pdf (10.24 MB)
The growth of web 2.0 applications that support collaborative work online using the Internet/network over the last two years has encouraged many teachers to investigate their usefulness. This paper examines a pilot project of some social software applications in the Faculty of Education at Deakin University. The installation of a number of these technologies has enabled us to understand better the ways that these can be used to support teaching and learning. However, not all uses have been for academic purposes and there has been some uptake in the use of these technologies to support the regular business of the Faculty. This has led to some ‘subversive’ professional development by introducing a range of new technologies to academics and administrative staff and also giving them some experience in their use. The pilot has shown that a number of these social software applications support the communication, collaboration and contribution of both academic and administrative staff. An initial benefit has also been able to further support opportunities to demonstrate the creation and use of digital learning resources using QuickTime, iTunes and iPods .

Ian Duncan, University of Queensland
Size does matter - how we're dealing with extraordinary storage requirements

Duncan_Ian.pdf (3.59 MB)
The Queensland Brain Institute has operated as a network-home Apple Mac environment for 5 years using Open Directory and X-RAID but our existing infrastructure has reached its capacity. Our target: 20TB of highly-redundant storage with an easy expansion path. Our choices: Apple (OD, X-RAID, X-SAN), a switch from Apple, a blend?

Ultimately we opted for Sun SAM-FS/QFS storage integrated with Apple's OD and a move to Portable Home Directories on NFS, away from purely networked homes. This talk will cover the initial criteria in our decision making process, the options presented, the choice we made and why, and, on a superficial level, how we are now implementing this solution and the pitfalls we faced. I will also provide information on where you can get the detailed information on how to do it yourselves.

Daniel Saffioti, Univeristy of Wollongong
Getting the iPod to do more? - A Casestudy
The Apple iPod has become the number one consumer product of all time. That said the iPod's functionality in some sense is rather limited partially due to the fact there is no freely available Software Development Kit (SDK) for it. Sure it can play music, video, podcasts and display images and more recently some games from a small developer community - but can it do more?

The Apple University Consortium some time ago funded a project which was focussed on developing a Quiz application for most iPods using iPod Linux and Podzilla. This session details the project and the methodology employed to get the iPod to do more and will show you how simple it is to write your own applications..

Mark Bate, Monash University
PxGrid - A High-throughput Approach to Protein Structure Determination by X-ray Crystallography

Bate_Mark.pdf (3.35 MB)
Structural Biology relies increasingly on high-performance computing. In particular the determination of the 3-dimensional structure of a protein is a computationally demanding process. However, some aspects of the process are "embarrassingly parallel" and are thus particularly suited to distributed computing. We have developed a general method of utilising available Grid computing resources to one such calculation, achieving linear speed-up factors >50 fold. We are now developing a Cocoa application that utilises
Apple Xgrid technology in an analogous fashion. Not only will this leverage the power of >100 available Apple nodes on our local network, but will also provide a clean and simple user interface for running a command-line application.

Mahommad Tabbara, University of Melbourne
Development Platform for Wireless Networked Control Systems
From the mechanics of hard disks, to flying and landing aircraft, control theory is behind the safe and efficient control of every piece of modern engineering design in existence. Designing controllers is a complex problem and designing controllers that communicate wirelessly is, as yet, untried in practice. Taking advantage of such technologies as Bonjour, IOKit and BSD sockets, this talk will present our findings and progress on using Apple hardware and the MacOS to develop a functional wireless control
system design and testing platform.

Iain Murray, Curtin University
iNetSim + iClassMate

Eaton_Cottier.pdf (2.43 MB)
This paper describes 2 applications designed to assist vision impaired and blind students in an educational environment.

iNetSim, a universally accessible network simulator, created to allow vision-impaired and sighted users to complete Cisco Certified Network Associate level two (CCNA 2) laboratory sessions. Previously, software used in the CCNA course was not accessible to those with impaired vision because it utilized images of network topology. These images were incompatible with screen reader software. In contrast, iNetSim is assessable by blind and vision impaired users, in addition to those with normal vision. It is based on Mac OS X Tiger, an operating system with an integrated screen reader called VoiceOver.

iClassMate is a tool to assist vision-impaired students with whiteboards, lecture recording and note taking. Previously students had to take written notes during the class or query the lecturer/teacher after the class if there was confusion. This was a stumbling point for many vision-impaired students who could not see notes/projections the lecturer may have put up to facilitate understanding. iClassMate is able to record the class or section thereof (eg. a whiteboard presentation) either via a webcam attached to a laptop or from a webstream. Filters can be used to increase and enhance the readability of whiteboard text or projection diagrams. Captions or embedded notes can be added by the user for later review of difficult concepts. The Filters will enable a wide variety of vision-impairments (including Retinitus Pigmentosa and Colour Blindness) to make the text more clear and so more easily understood to the student. This is achieved through the use of the core graphics and accessibility technologies that are built in to the Mac OS X Tiger operating system. These movies can then be saved either for later editing and/or review.

Geoffrey Ericksson, University of Queensland
Writing a Leopard Quick Look Plugin for Flow Cytometry Standard Files

Ericksson_Geoffery.pdf (5.22 MB)
Quick Look is an integrated preview facility built into Leopard. Specifically, Quick Look provides the ability to quickly peruse the contents of files without opening an external application. Previews provided by Quick Look are not limited to single page documents but extend to multi-page documents, spreadsheets and even movies. Similar to Spotlight, Quick Look provides a plugin facility so that any file format can be potentially integrated into Quick Look. In this talk I will demonstrate how to write a Quick Look plugin using the binary Flow Cytometry Standard files as an example.

Luke Toop, University of Adelaide
Quartz Composer: Tips and Traps for developers
Developing applications that take advantage of advanced video techniques and hardware-accelerated rendering with Xcode has never been simpler: Quartz Composer provides an environment for the rapid development of data visualizations and interactive user interfaces, allowing access to Core Video, Core Image and OpenGL functions without requiring knowledge of their APIs. An environment this powerful also comes with a number of surprises, both good and bad. Learn when and how to use Quartz Composer to make your development process faster, simpler and better looking!

Paul Bourke, University of Western Australia
Navigable movies: A Real QuickTime VR

Bourke_Paul.pdf (14.57 MB)
This paper introduces a navigable movie player based upon the QuickTime API. Navigable does not mean (as in QuickTime VR) that one an only look around within a static image, rather one can navigate within a movie. A key application of this is to present interactive movie content not just on a flat screen but also within immersive displays, in particular, within hemispherical domes. As such the layer supports a very general method of mapping the source movie projection geometry onto the geometry of the presentation hardware. The result is an abstraction of the details of the input movie geometry and the output image projection, the exact mapping and navigation mode is contained with a data file rather than within the movie player software itself. A description of the player will be presented along with details of the mapping between source and destination geometries, and finally a number of practical examples.

Adam Reed & Andrew Wellington, Australian National Univeristy
Developing apps that are "Managed Environment" Friendly

Reed_Adam.pdf (707.85 KB) Managed_Application.zip (50.71 KB)
Education labs are highly customised and restricted environments that do not follow what could be called the traditional Mac environment model. This presentation is designed to give you an insight into how the management of labs affects your applications, and how you can use the tools and frameworks you are already familiar with to ensure that your and our users get the best possible experience from your app. As a bonus you application will become a better Mac citizen on all machines, not just managed ones.

James Bekkema, Charles Sturt University
Using Python and PyObjC for Scripting and Cocoa Development

Bekkema_James.pdf (1.65 MB)
Python is an open modern programming language that is fast becoming popular among the Mac developer community. Using the PyObjC (Python Objective-C) bridge, developers can write fully-fledged Cocoa programs using pure Python code. With Apple now supporting PyObjC, this presentation will introduce Python and PyObjC programming on the Mac. Using Python for scripting and development will be addressed, with focus placed on how one can develop fully functional Cocoa applications. Python is well suited for research and technical environments, and this will also be discussed.

Daniel Woo, University of New South Wales
How will you have your Cocoa this Christmas? A Leopard Perspective
Cocoa continues to evolve in the next release of Mac OS X. There are improvements to the Objective-C language, a new version of Interface Builder, enhancements to Xcode and a unifed tool set to profile your running application. The improvements help developers write less code, especially with the introduction of properties and how this integrates with bindings. We will discuss our experiences developing software in the Leopard environment and demonstrate some features that have improved our ability to create applications quickly.