From a Window over the Green: Innovation and Education Around the University of Western Australia

Last year, I spent a month living in a town house across the road from the University of Western Australia (UWA), looking at innovation and education. I wrote a series of items "From a Window over the Green" (the town-house with the window is now for sale):

Greetings from Perth Western Australia, on the edge of the campus of the University of Western Australia. I am sitting at a window overlooking a townhouse courtyard on a rainy Saturday. Above the trees and tiled roofs the new wing of St Catherine’s College is reaching up to the sky. This week the university received a $15M donation to further expand accommodation for researchers. The university is expanding upwards and outwards, but in education terms where is UWA and Australia's other elite universities going?

1. MOOCs in Future of UWA, Wednesday, September 18, 2013
2. Spacecubed Co-working in Perth, Sunday, September 22, 2013
3. Co-working in Perth, Tuesday, September 24, 2013
4. Use of Video Capture at Universities Beyond Lecture Recording, Wednesday, September 25, 2013
5. University Satellite Campuses Like Co-Working Offices, Thursday, September 26, 2013
6. Profile of Australian Universities, Thursday, October 3, 2013
7. Using Moodle for University Learning, Tuesday, October 8, 2013
8. Seminar About Online Green Computing Course, Monday, October 14, 2013
9. End of an Era for All Women University College, Wednesday, October 16, 2013
10. Where is the University Headed?, Saturday, October 19, 2013
11. Moodle: Massive Open Online Design of Learning and Education, Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Last night in the Fellows Garden at ANU the same issues came up for discussion: what is the role of the university, in education, economic development and society?

Lunch at former flying boat base in Perth

Lunching at the "Matilda Bay Restaurant " in Perth, I noticed there was a "Catalina" function room. A sign on the wall indicated this was a former US Navy flying boat base in World War 2. The restaurant is on the banks of the Swan River, across the road from the Nedlands campus of the Unviersity of Western Australia. This was also the original location for the Australian The Double Sunrise service operated between Austrlaian and Ceylon by the RAAF and QANTAS. Unfortunately a sign in the park commemorating this shows a photo of a biplane flying boat (not a Catalina).

Science on Wheels

Greetings from the new Science Library at the Unviersity of Western Australia. The library has a relatively conservative interior design, blending a traditional library with that of a new learning commons. The colour pallet is muted, with blond wood panelling matching the cream coloured concrete, which reflects the tones of limestone blocks of the campus's traditional buildings. There is a small reserve collection of books on the ground floor, enclosed in floor to ceiling glass, to show books still have a place in libraries. There is also a selection of new books and journals on display. There are rows of computers and some small work-group booths with chest high partitions. What is not noticeable at first is that most of the furniture, including tables and bookcases, are on wheels, allowing them to be easily rearranged. Apart from the reserve collection, there are no fixed walls in the space.

Community Recovery from Disaster

Dr Rebecca Whittle from Lancaster University gave an entertaining and informative talk on "Flood Recovery in the UK" at University of Western Australia, yesterday. She described research into the June 2007 floods in Hull, England, where 8000 families were displaced. A longitudinal study using diaries and group discussion was carried out. As well as papers published (Whittle, Rebecca and Medd, William and Deeming, Hugh and Kashefi, E. and Mort, Maggie and Walker, Gordon and Watson, Nigel (2010) After the rain - learning the lessons from flood recovery in Hull. Final project report for 'Flood, Vulnerability and Urban Resilience: a real-time study of local recovery following the floods of June 2007 in Hull'. Project Report, Lancaster UK) and input to the UK Government Pitt Review into the flooding, a game to help policy and operations staff was created.

Also the event I picked up a copy of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility newsletter. Also at the event was Frank Yardley, Manager Climate Change Adaptation, RMIT.

The key point Dr Whittle made was that while the first response for the Hull floods was good, the community felt abandoned after the emergency workers left. The following period, of having to deal with insurance companies and builders was as stressful as the flood emergency itself, and for this there was little coordinated support. It occourred to me that the web could be used to provide some such support. This could be via individuals smart phones and other portable devices and also via community centres, particularly the local library.

However, in accordance with good ICT practice, before building a an online system, it is best to simplify the manual process first. The problem here is that while emergency response is coordinated by government, recovery is largely left to individuals to sort out with private companies.

In a major disaster, this is inefficient and stressful for those involved. That situation could be improved with standard terms in insurance contracts and standard processes, both on paper and online. Dealing with builders could similarly be standardised. This may need legislation to allow provide companies to coordinate their activities without fear of prosecution for collusion. It may also require some level of financial reward or compulsion for parties to comply. As an example, small builders would be reluctant to coordinate their activities.

Insurance and building staff would need training in how to use online systems to coordinate their work in an emergency. But this could have benefits in making their work practices more efficient even when there is not an emergency. This would reduce the customer frustration when they do not know when the person is going to arrive or what stage their work is up to.

Perth, green ict, e-docs, e-learning and e-rooms

For the next two weeks I am in Perth, around the University of Western Australia. This is mostly a holiday, but I will be attending "Flood Recovery in the UK" at 4pm 19 April 2011. Happy to talk to people on green ICT, e-docs, e-learning and e-rooms while here. Particularly to my university, CSIRO and ACS colleagues.

Flood Recovery in the UK

Dr Rebecca Whittle from Lancaster University will speak on "Flood Recovery in the UK" at University of Western Australia, in Perth, 4pm 19 April 2011.

In June 2007, the English city of Hull was devastated by flooding which displaced over 8000 families from their homes. A real-time longitudinal study was undertaken to document the long term experiences of flood recovery. The study used an action research model to document and understand the everyday experiences of individuals following the floods. The project has fed into policy in a number of ways. It provided evidence to the Pitt Review of the nationwide 2007 flooding. Staff from the UK Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies’ Secretariat were very involved in the project steering group, which led to the development of good working relationships between the Secretariat, research team and a number of the participants. Several of the project’s participants have since set up as independent flood consultants.

Dr Rebecca Whittle is a senior research associate in the Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University in the UK. She has spent the past four years studying natural disasters from a social science perspective. She is particularly interested in using ideas of resilience and vulnerability to explore adults’ and children’s experiences of longterm disaster recovery. Rebecca has also worked with CapHaz-Net, a European project on a range of natural disasters.

Dr Whittle’s presentation will be followed by comments on recovery in Australia and discussion.

Location: Robert Street Lecture Theatre
Contact: Bryan Boruff bboruff(a)cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Start: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:00
End: 18:00