Theme+3+Table+1+(Yellow)

=**Theme 3 ** Table **1** (Yellow) = Implications of continuously emerging technologies for professional learning and educators

Facilitator: Geoff Hendrick Provocateur: **Jo Kay** Topic: Immersiveness - non traditional learning and virtual worlds
 * Comments from the Table to be added below**

Immersive learning - virtual worlds - online gaming

Evidence - strong evidence base that VW's benefit teaching and learning - transformational potential - many edu VW sites - good examples of safe, secure VW's with duty of care isues solved - see http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/ for examples of edu in VW's - good for teacher PD - enages students - prepares studenrs for future best practice workplace (e.g. IBM, Nortel) - equity: enables access to curric and teachers for small/remote schools

Current state - VW's blocked in all public schools - some projects - equity gap between rich, innovative schools and risk averse state systems

Barriers - policy is risk averse - policy makers not aware of benefits of VW's - bandwidth - technical hoops for jurisdcitons to jump thru - interop of digital assets - standards emerging

Ways Forward - need to move from denial to trials - need to engage VW evangalists and policy makers to develop case for VW's based on edu benefits - run pilots