Day 7 - Melbourne

Much the same as yesterday, but read on ....

Was woken at 6am by a txt from Annie. Gransy has put in an offer on a house in Knysna! - she is due to hear today so hold thumbs! I think it will take a while for everything to sort out and she has to also sell Fish Hoek but I will hear more details as they unfold. I am very happy for her and think it is the right move.

So I couldn't get back to sleep and eventually went for a jog on the Esplanade to St Kilda marina. Was a beautiful morning but with quite a strong wind, with a bit of a nip in the air. It is very dry here and people want the rain (like all over Australia I guess - the drought is a serious problem. Red gums on the Murray are dying, and with them a whole ecosystem might go).

Checked email and then caught the tram to Melbourne Uni, where I had a busy day. Started with Angela Bridgland who is the head of Teaching and Learning Support Technologies. They have lots of resources and a good model. She then sent me on to Patrick Blanchard who heads the Flexible Delivery Service - they have a really neat centre in the main library, with heaps of computers for students and staff, and a wireless network for laptops. Then back to CSHE where I had lunch with Richard James, who then took me a seminar in the Law Faculty where their assistant dean was presenting on his recent tour of 'e-learning at U21 universities"! Like Richard said, I can now cancel my visits to the other unis and just have a holiday :) He had done a similar world tour and had interesting info to share. All I need now are his PPoint slides ..... :)

Their Law building is amazing - the highest tech teaching and learning facilities I have seen - the whole building is wired and wireless networked, with super presentation tools in the lecture theatres, and digital video in the Moot Court, where students practice arguing cases and can then review their performance on video afterwards.

Finished off with a good chat with Gabrielle Baldwin about general academic development issues, and that was the visit to Melbourne. 2 down, 3 to go :) Wandered back to Flinders St through the city, but was feeling totally stimulus overloaded and exhausted, so just took a tram back to St Kilda. Felt like a real Melburnian heading home on the trams after work - could get used to this place!

Will get an early night and then up early to catch the plane to Vancouver. Going north to a new continent, to the summer, to Canada .....

Posted: Wed - June 4, 2003 at 06:57 PM Stan's Travel Blog