Today NMC leadership Larry Johnson, Rachel Smith, and Alan Levine visited with University of Melbourne Vice Principal, Information and CIO Linda O'Brien and staff. Enjoying a lovely lunch at the University House, NMC shared initiatives and led a discusson of the Horizon.au project that brought them to Australia.

Our hosts shared a wide range of interesting projects and uses of emerging technology at the university, including a new forward looking strategic plan.

modified from creative commons licensed flickr photo by pierre pouliquin

From July 5-20, 2008, the NMC leadership team of CEO Larry Johnson and Vice Presidents Rachel Smith and Alan Levine will be in Australia establishing a new phase of the Horizon Project and meeting with colleagues at our five Australian NMC member organizations. Look for a string of news stories and podcasts from this tour.

The Friday schedule for the NMC Symposium on Creativity in Second Life opened with a very special presentation by SynapticWizard Karas (aka Ted M. Kahn) of DesignWorlds for Learning, Inc. but also the very first NMC Fellow. Ted brought us a classic theoretial concept of Synectics into the virtual space through this session and his activities.

Synectics, Everywhere and a Virtual Museum of the Future: Educreation in Second Life
This session will give a very brief overview of the history of research on creativity—the personal, process, product, environmental, and social dimensions—and its application to education and learning. Two specific approaches to developing creative thinking and innovation practices will be introduced: "synectics," developed by the late W.J.J. Gordon et al., involves the use of personal and fantasy metaphor for both learning and discovery. "Everywhere," developed by Hebrew University Professor Emeritus of Education, M. D. Caspi, includes the design of a set of spaces and methodologies to experience, develop and enhance creative self-education.

During the NMC Summer Conference today the New Media Consortium (NMC) announced that it has joined the Media Grid’s Immersive Education initiative to participate in the development of best practices and standards for virtual learning and game-based learning platforms. NMC is an international consortium of over 250 learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. NMC member institutions are found in almost every state in the United States, across Canada, and in Europe, Asia and Australia. Among the consortium’s membership are an elite list of the most highly regarded colleges and universities in the world, innovative museums, research centers, foundations, and forward-thinking companies.

A collaboration among five classes spread around the globe involved students from grades 10-12 looking at the future of society and education via a lens of the 2007 NMC Horizon Report. The project is coordinated via a Horizon Project wiki