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Volatiles

August 15, 2016 · by emergentformau

IMGP3877-2

It’s been a while and I shall get writing to bring some of the projects from the last couple of years to the site because there has been a wide range of projects and some interesting connections between them. Some dead ends too which also adds to the thought process.

One that was recently published on the iBooks store (yesterday) is the culmination of a project with the Edith Cowan University group called HealthInfoNet. It is the first of a series we will be doing to create mixed media publications to offer a broader array of access points to some important research – in this case the use of volatile substances in Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities.

One task was to bring the many facts and figures from the original publication and develop a narrative arc for an animation to begin the book. While the knowledge of petrol sniffing was widespread some years ago, significant developments by BP in their Kwinana research lab resulted in the development of low aromatic fuel. Drops in the use of petrol in some communities was as high as 95%. To celebrate this achievement BP produced a wonderful short video which they granted us permission to use.

The use of photographs to give the book a tone and feel was also an interesting challenge as it is too easy to try to use stock photos or stray into culturally sensitive territory. In the end a narrative of using nature to capture aspects of the story, drawing the life out of the land, ants under the surface and then the colonising aspects of plants on the coastal dunes. I shot all of the photos around Bold Park near the coast in Perth.

Next in this series is the review of the use of illicit drugs and we are working on the next photographic theme with Aboriginal elders and also creating the narrative for the animation which I will again do with Peter Ryan.

Learning Space Design

May 27, 2012 · by emergentformau

Project: Learning Space Design workshop series

Year: 2012

Client: Architects, Educators and Facilities Planners

Focus: Innovation, Capability

By: Emergent Form

The increasing importance of re-thinking the way we design spaces for learning becomes more obvious with each wave of new technology, the increasing pervasiveness of internet access and the need to accommodate the shifts in teaching styles and learning styles. The best way to take advantage of what is known and discovered in Western Australia and indeed the world, is to take advantage of the pilots and experiments and then applying the most appropriate to each unique situation.

The workshop held in November 2011 with Prof Stephen Heppell (#heppelltime) showed a demand for more information on this topic and that there was now an appetite to consider new approaches since most schools had completed rounds of maintenance and update building as a result of the Federal money injected post the GFC. Now was time to consider the next round of building in the context of these shifts. It was with this in mind that Emergent Form, together with Xcite Logic and EIW Architects came together with Prof Stephen Heppell to run a one day workshop at the University Club in Crawley.

Exploring the new cannot be done by schools and education institutions alone and so this workshop series involved architects, facilities planners, builders, furniture makers and educationalists. In fact, the tables for the main workshop were comprised of most of these groups – importantly with Students too. The aim here was to explore the best examples from around the world with Prof Heppell and then look at six WA examples as case studies to be discussed with a panel of experts. Added to this, the students were able to try combinations of furniture and record their thoughts on iPads to bring to the tables for discussion.

The keynote by Prof Heppell is below as is the case study session.

Keynote – Prof Stephen Heppell

WA Case Studies – Paul Houghton, Stephen Heppell, Alec O’Connell, Lara Mackintosh, various others…

#Heppelltime

December 12, 2011 · by emergentformau

This project was about starting a series of conversations to open up the subject of learning in a digital world. There are many dimensions to this and after some discussion with both the various sponsors and participants digital pedagogy (teaching in a digital world) and re-thinking learning spaces emerged as the major themes. The program for the 3 days was broadly about two different one day workshops that were sponsored by Amplified on day 1 and Southern River College with XCite Logic on day 2.

The keynote for the Amplified event was ‘The Opportunity of 21c Learning’ – an exploration of the issues and challenges facing both teachers and learners to a crowd of around 220 people connected with Education in some way. Key messages of the ‘craft’ of teaching, the motivation of learners, flaws of factory learning and the exciting opportunities of a learning future that draw from the best examples from around the world.

Prof Stephen Heppell, Amplified keynote.

The afternoon session began after a playful lunch with the removal of shoes and an exploration of many projects from around the world to draw on to generate local ‘recipes’ and specific actions.

The next day at Southern River was primarily for the teachers. A broader professional development day was developed by XCite Logic and this was punctuated by three sessions by Stephen which again started many conversations around what to do next, where to make changes and how to tackle some of the issues of the third millenium.

The conversations have started. Some people inevitably will revert back to business as usual but many were inspired and committed to a different approach, big or small, that would make a difference in their own world. These conversations will continue through until May next year when Stephen returns and a number of projects will be initiated, inspired by these two days of talks. Me, I had a blast – talking, thinking, getting the fire back. Really looking forward to next year, thank you Stephen.

Creative Communities

October 10, 2011 · by emergentformau

Recent thinking around innovation systems, creativity and the creative class has influenced economic policy in many countries over the last 5 years. In 2005, EF’s Paul Houghton chaired a review of the current practice and thinking with a view to the development of a strategy that would integrate this thinking into productivity and Innovation strategy for the Department of Training. This cross agency, multi-disciplinary project was complex, diverse and at times a shifting target.

The body of thinking, skilfully researched and analysed with Larry Quick and Associates, influenced a wide range of initiatives in Perth such as Form’s Creative Capital and the establishment of the Committee for Perth. Other Departments involved in the project also picked up on some of the recommendations.

The resultant report was hailed internationally as one of the most complete in the field and the team that produced it went on to be involved in many aspects covered by the report. The Department of Training failed to implement even a small portion of the findings and research because the topic was too far beyond their perceived brief or capability. In addition to the report and findings, a key lesson was to always involve an assessment of capability in the process.

Ultimately it was a catalyst for new thinking around innovation platforms, design thinking and capability development. The expected outcomes and even the funded outcomes are not always the ones that have lasting impact. The coming advent of the NBN rollout offers a new context into which this work can be re-applied.

Project: Creative Communities

Year: 2005-2006

Client: Department of Training

Focus: Innovation

by: KT Studio

Content Objects

September 6, 2011 · by emergentformau

This project with the Baking staff at Polytechnic West established a number of objects for a digital content repository which was a significant step towards the generation of just-in-time training. The main objective was to establish a series of pieces of content that could be used to flesh out a story of the making of a white loaf.

These content objects, movies, text, audio and even powerpoint, formed the basic building blocks of making the white loaf. This was called a work task, something that happened in the real world of Baking in a commercial bakery which required the application of a number of competencies which mapped to the regular curriculum. The objects could be used in learning the existing curriculum or in the new work task.

However, instead of creating two sets of objects, one set was created which could be used in either context. These could build up to a content object repository which could then be used in multiple courses, in gap training or on-the-job refreshers.

Project: Content Object Repository

Year: 2010

Client: Polytechnic West

Focus: Capability

by: KT Studio

qTracker

September 5, 2011 · by emergentformau

An online log book using web-based environments or views that are accessed by students, supervisors in industry, lecturers and administrators via a range of devices including smart phones was a way of solving the issue. In addition, the technology used was able to scale, remain responsive and be managed from anywhere by using cloud computing, in particular Google App Engine and Amazon EC2.

The work of the Studio in 2010 was entirely focussed on new learning models and the need for a learner-centric approach to Training which was quite different to the way VET and even K-12 education works. This meant using technology to create tools that complimented the way in which, in this case apprentices, learned. The primary drivers for this was the need to enable more on-the-job learning to occur so that there was increased capacity in the TAFE colleges and more productivity in the Construction industry.

Project: qTracker

Year: 2009-2010

Client: Polytechnic West

Focus: Capability

by: KT Studio

Greenhouse

August 23, 2011 · by emergentformau

The use of dynamic content, rich media and early social networks to establish communities of practice for teachers in the public education system was before Facebook and even user-generated content.

Greenhouse started with KT Studio in 2005 and evolved into a multi-dimensional program for the WA Department of Education. Early stages of Greenhouse centred on the Literacy teachers was hard work because of this steep learning curve. Those that persisted became well equipped to take advantage of the next round of technologies to be launched in the second half of that decade.

Project: Greenhouse

Year: 2005-2007

Client: WA Department of Education

Focus: Innovation, Capability

By: KT Studio

Knowledge Platform for Water

August 15, 2011 · by emergentformau

Large volumes of water going through channels around cane fields fed by the Burdekin River

This was a big project done in partnership with CSIRO through the Northern Australia Irrigation Futures in Queensland. The Lower Burdekin area is one of the biggest irrigated areas in Australia and, working with the Water Futures Group, a model was developed for understanding the complexity of the issues and how to better make decisions across multiple organisations.

This was supported by the development of three prototype knowledge environments using dynamic content assembly around emerging themes of interest. The first was used by the team to hone concepts and understand the dynamics of technology supported discourse. The second was a pilot used by the Water Futures Group and project leaders to understand the possibilities for using different media, thematic access and community curation of content.

A third release was developed to provide a project focus as this was perceived to be the key to the sustainable contribution of content. The project was sadly killed off before a project manager network was established but the potential was plain to see.

Project: Lower Burdekin Knowledge Platform

Year: 2004-2008

Client: CSIRO, Northern Queensland Dry Tropic NRM

Focus: Decisions, Innovation

By: KT Studio