[LINK] National Strategy for Energy Efficiency Meeting now on in

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Tom writes,

> Greetings from Old Parliament House in Canberra, where a meeting 
> between industry and the Environment Department is taking place on 
> what to put in the National Strategy for Energy Efficiency ..
>
> <www.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2008-10-02/index.cfm#climate>

Australia is pleased you caught that bus, Tom .. thanks for your work.

> It seems particularly inappropriate to make people fly to Canberra
> to discuss energy savings. The Australian Government has stated an 
> intention to use online consultation, and the Environment Department 
> should implement this government policy.

Absolutely right, and, well said .. 'fly to Canberra to discuss energy
savings' .. on what planet would anyone do that .. and what Department?

The Department REALLY needs a chat with Tamara about Elluminate, for eg:


"Elluminate is available free of charge to all Victorian educators,
State, Independent and Catholic schools are all included, through the
Victorian DEECD's Knowledge Bank:

 http://knowledgebank.globalteacher.org.au
 http://knowledgebank.globalteacher.org.au/elluminate/


Elluminate lets people communicate in real time via their Internet 
connection. People who schedule an Elluminate session meet in a ’room’. 

They are able to speak to each other via a headset with microphone, use 
the chat function, raise their hand to ask a question, draw on a 
whiteboard amongst other things. 

The moderator or person running the session is able to upload powerpoint 
style slides to give the session a focus. At the end, sessions can be 
saved and archived for access at a later time.

Once Elluminate is installed via the Knowledge Bank page, users are able 
to access demonstrations, archived sessions and participate in online 
sessions. 

There are two sessions on how to use Elluminate coming up ..

Please be aware that you will need a headset with microphone and have 
downloaded Elluminate prior to the session. Once users are confident 
using Elluminate, rooms can be booked to run your own online sessions.

Elluminate has so many possibilities in regard to educational 
applications; staff can capture professional development sessions or 
staff meetings for part-timers or those who are absent. 

Those schools who find attending professional development sessions 
difficult due to distance or funding can access Elluminate sessions 
easily and for free. And archived sessions mean that you can revisit a 
session at anytime. Elluminate also has uses to work with students in a 
virtual enviroment. Once you become confident using Elluminate, the rest 
is up to your imagination. 

For more information on Elluminate, see the Knowledge Bank Elluminate 
site or contact:


Tamara Carpenter
Senior Project Officer
Knowledge Bank Online Events
Innovation and Next Practice Division
Office for Policy, Research and Innovation
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Ph. 03 9637 3010 carpenter.tamara.c at edumail.vic.gov.au

--
Cheers, Tom
Stephen Loosley
Victoria Australia