Denise Wood's blog

I presented at the ERGA 2009 conference on feedback and flexible learning  at Adelaide University on the 24th September. My presentation focused on the adaptation of our ALTC funded peer review instrument for use by students to facilitate reflective thinking through formative feedback and assessment. Further information about the ERGA Conference 2009: Feedback and Flexible Learning held 24 – 25  September: Lower Napier Building, University of Adelaide is available from: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/erga/

I also presented a formal peer reviewed paper on this topic at the ATN Assessment Conference held at RMIT, Melbourne on the 19th and 20th November. The theme of the conference was “Assessment in Different Dimensions”: http://emedia.rmit.edu.au/atnassessment09/

I had the privilege of speaking on the topic of accessibility of social media at the Gov2.0 Roundtable on the 26th of November at Australian Parliament House, Canberra.

Senior government leaders and industry met in Canberra on the 26 November, 2009 to discuss accessibility of government communications services for people with disabilities hosted by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and Senator for the ACT Kate Lundy.

The nation’s key decision makers discussed issues of social inclusion and communications accessibility, the changing role of citizen participation and planning for a more accessible government and was opened by Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Other speakers at the seminar included: Senator Kate Lundy, Bill Shorten, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, Dr Nicholas Gruen, Chair of the Government 2.0 Taskforce, Graeme Innes AM, Disability Discrimination Commissioner and Abul Rizvi, Deputy Secretary, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

The full  report of the Gov2.0 task force is now available: http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/gov20taskforcereport/index.html

The audio of the Roundtable is now available from Senator Kate Lundy’s website and will be transcribed shortly: http://www.katelundy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Australian%20Comm%20Consumer%20Action%20Network_261109.mp3

My presentation focused on:

1. The benefits of social networking and 3D virtual worlds for people with disabilities and those in situations where they find it difficult to interact directly with others on a daily basis;
2. The challenges imposed by these environments and I will here mention technical issues relating to accessibility; attitudinal barriers; issues relating to regional location and lack of access to affordable bandwidth; responsibilities of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the need for community support services and the need for education;
3. Some of the initiatives under way to address these challenges, and the barriers that impede these efforts;
4. The opportunities that Government 2.0 holds if these challenges can be met.

My full report will be available for download from Senator Kate Lundy’s site in the near future.