Future of technology in education to be unveiled at !DEA 2007

The future of innovation and technology in education will be unveiled at !DEA 2007; a national, cross-sectoral forum hosted by the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 8 – 11.

Sponsored by USQ, the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the IMS Global Learning Consortium, this "sharing of intelligence" will showcase Australian initiatives focused on emerging technologies that will impact all education sectors.

'This series of events will provide an up-to-the-minute summary of major education initiatives and caters to a wide range of audiences,' Technical Standards Adviser to DEST Kerry Blinco said.

!DEA Lab covers technical updates and demonstrations of new technologies and ICE-RS, which deals with workflows for academic publishing. The Technology in Education Open Forum is aimed at policy makers and implementers responsible for education technology.

A particular focus this year will be requirements and technologies related to e-portfolios; Tuesday night will see the results of the judging of the Australian IMS GLC Learning Impact Awards.

The latter part of the week offers the opportunity to learn about interoperability frameworks which enhance the potential to share infrastructure developments within and across sectors.

Meanwhile, the presentation of the RUBRIC (Regional Universities Building Research Infrastructure Collaboratively) Project's Toolkit concludes !DEA 2007.

'The RUBRIC Toolkit will provide an invaluable aid to organisations implementing institutional repositories – it is a practical online document,' RUBRIC Project Manager Sue Craig said.

'Information professionals will come away with a greater understanding of the mission and output of these initiatives, the range of tools being developed and how these initiatives underpin the future of technology in education and research in Australia for years to come.

'Those with a more technical interest will find !DEA 2007 an invaluable opportunity to learn more about the various national activities that facilitate cohesive and productive investment in technology in education and the longer term implications of the technical work being done in these areas.'

Speakers from Australia, New Zealand and the United States have been invited from various projects, libraries, universities and government departments.

This is an excellent opportunity to engage with key staff involved in fostering alliances and communities of practice around technologies used by the Australian education community.

Details on the IDEA 2007 program, venue and registration are available on http://www.linkaffiliates.net.au/idea2007/index.html. For all enquires on the IDEA 2007 events, please contact ideaconference@usq.edu.au

Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 1628