Sydney #2

I said yesterday that I thought Sydney would take some getting used too. Amazing how you feel when you arrive somewhere for the first time absolutely exhausted. Well early this cool and cloudy morning I took the train from Central up to Circular Quay to Sydney Cove and then walked 2.5km down to Cockle Bay. Every street/corner saw something different. Love it ....

I'll not insult your intelligence with this iconic view of Sydney Cove taken from the Royal Botanic Gardens:

The Queen Victoria Building (now a shopping centre) on George Street:

Another Woolworths. Unlike the Woolworths brand in Queensland that is a supermarket, Woolworths in NSW is more like what we were used to:

Looking across Sydney from Cockle Bay. Note the monorail:

University of Technology Sydney:

Sydney

Hey buddies (*picking up the lingo there*). The next stop on my roadtrip sees me in a rather cool and cloudy Sydney (BBC weather shows Sydney and Sheffield in sync with each other). A bumpy and turbulent flight from Brisbane to Sydney - I don't do turbulence. First impressions are of a Bohemian-style city with a variety of architectural styles and a massive central railway station. Must have taken me ten minutes to walk under the 25 platforms to exit the station. Anyway as I settle in, and wait for the Australian X-factor live shows to begin on tv later, and maybe go for a walk, here's the rather non-scenic view from the sixth floor of Mercure Sydney...

Saturday 18/09/10 in Brisbane

Just spent 6 hours walking around Brisbane. There are so many bridges, lots of arts and performers on the South Bank and poinsettias in flower in the Botanic Gardens (hey, must be nearly Christmas), and Griffith University dominating the South Bank skyline. They get everywhere! My feet hurt, it's starting to rain and here are a sample of the 75 photos taken today...

Pretty little walkway running a good way along the South Bank:

Quite funny street performer juggling a baby, a knife and a flamethrower while balanced on a unicycle:

Poinsettias in flower in the Botantic Gardens:

The Brisbane wheel is situated on the South Bank, and so is Griffith University's Conservatorium:

Bridges, bridges, bridges. Here you can see William Jolly and Kurilpa bridges spanning Brisbane River. Photo taken from Victoria bridge:

Art work at Griffith University

Across both Logan and Gold Coast art and sculpture decorate the campuses.

Gold Coast:

Gold Coast:

In the new Engineering building at Gold Coast:

Logan Campus:

Logan Campus. The sculpture on the left hand plinth was taken away for restoration/repair and never returned:

Entering the library at Logan Campus:

More pics from Griffith's Gold Coast campus

Thought I'd give the pic upload another try this morning. It's a little quicker, but not that much.

Entrance to Gold Coast campus library (signature Griffith red):

Crane count. Campus under construction:

Building the new teaching hospital:

A wine bar:

The recently constructed School of Engineering building:

Another elevation of the same building. I quite like the architecture, materials used and colour of this building:

Back to the library. Different coloured/patterned carpets indicate each work zone:

Outside the group work pods in the library:

Another library student work zone:

One of the many learning centres scattered across the vast Gold Coast campus:

And another. Making use of the space along the windows. Note the absence of blinds. Natural bush and trees outside provide the shade from the sun:

Griffith University visit - 17/09/2010

I visited Griffith University today. I didn’t leave disappointed. First stop was Logan Campus to run a Technology, Feedback, Action! workshop. 17 or 18 people participated including academic, blending learning officers, curriculum consultants and students. It was well received, with comments like ‘it’s refreshing’, ‘it’s great that the students’ voice is heard’, and a sneak peak at the session evaluation forms looked favourable. I then spent some time talking with blended learning officers and curriculum consultants. Their support model includes centralised support within Griffith Institute for Higher Education and blended learning officers and curriculum consultants in each group (faculty) to provide just-in-time support. Despite being group-based, the blended learning officers report centrally via the Deans of Learning and Teaching and PVC for Learning and Teaching, and regularly to the Learning Environment Committee (I suppose the equivalent will be a group of FD staff) so that the blended learning officers are aware of broader university goals and the Learning Environment Committee understand what a blended learning officer do on a daily basis and the challenges they face, or hear from academic staff. I thought that was a useful channel of communication. They also have an equivalent of our Bb Ops Team meetings but they only take place every 6-8 weeks.

Griffith hold an annual 'Excellence in Teaching Week' in October/November during which a black-tie Teaching Citation Awards dinner is held. Part of this is a blended-learning symposium showcasing examples of Blackboard innovations from each of the groups (faculties). All sessions are professionally recorded (the three-camera stuff). (Stupot thinks - ideas for the next round of show'n'shares!).

I was then taken on a tour of the Logan Campus. It is a fairly new campus in Griffith’s portfolio and feels quite rural. It is a very small campus with little outside infrastructure (shops and services etc), and until only recently they had cows and calves in the fields nearby.

Following this I was taken for a 30 min car journey down the Pacific Highway and Gold Coast Highway to my next stop: the Gold Coast Campus. Griffith are investing heavily in this campus, including the building of a new teaching hospital. I was shown the library with its innovative learning spaces and fairly laid back feel – students sprawled on sofas and beanbags with laptops or watching DVDs, or completing group tasks together in pods. There is an immense feeling of space, light and colour, even on the first floor where books are housed. I was shown other parts of the campus, including the numerous learning spaces where there are dedicated desktop PC areas, lecture theatres where they appear designed with personal space and legroom in mind and aesthetically pleasing buildings. They are certainly making the use of their envious location of a university situated on the Gold Coast. It left me in awe.

This posting only scratches the surface of my day at Griffith. Anything you want to know, shout up. And there’s plenty more photos, just that blogger picture upload is running frustratingly slow.

Just one of many Gold Coast Campus learning centres:

Library shelving at Gold Coast Campus:

A study pod in the Gold Coast campus library:

Ground floor at Gold Coast campus library:

On entering Gold Coast campus library:

A personal spacious lecture theatre at Logan Campus:

Shopping parade at Logan Campus:

Brisbane

My first stop after Cairns on my roadtrip south along the east coast sees me here in Brisbane. It's a good 10 degrees colder than Cairns, and the hotel is a bit of a comedown from the Sebel Cairns. I'm off to Griffith University's Logan Campus tomorrow to run a TFA! workshop and meet with a few colleagues to discuss their assessment and feedback innovations, and anything else e-learning they're willing to share.

The view from my window is all a bit high-rise, though peering between the concrete you can see the Brisbane River.