The Sydney Seminar

by Gemmy Allen

I attended The Sydney Seminar May 14-27, 1999 with a group of 11 other educators from the North Texas Community and Junior College Consortium (NTCJCC).  We visited several colleges of TAFE and attended the TAFE NSW Managers Annual Conference in Sydney, Australia.  (Sydney is the capital of New South Wales, Australia's largest and oldest city, where the first settlers landed in 1788.)  The goal of the seminar was to exchange information on technical practices and trends, toward the globalization of education.

TAFE

Colleges of the Southern Sydney Institute visited were Lidcombe, St George, and Sutherland – Loftus.  The campuses of the Sydney Institute of Technology (SIT)  include Design Centre, East Sydney, Eora Centre, Petersham, Randwick, and Ultimo.  Finance Insurance and Business Services Training Advisory Body FINBUS works in partnership with employers, vocational education and training (VET) providers and employees to promote and enhance the quality and effectiveness of vocational education and training for the finance, insurance and business services industries in NSW.  Also, Irene Janes and I visited OTEN (Open Training and Education Network), the distance education institute of TAFE NSW.

Sessions presented by NTCJCC to Southern Sydney Institute and Sydney Institute of Technology:

How to Get Faculty Ready for Online Learning by Irene Janes, Eastfield College
Teaching Marketing Online by Gemmy Allen, Mountain View College
International Students by Annette Flanagan, Brookhaven College
Students with a Disability by Oscar Lopez, Richland College
Assessing Students at Enrollment by Aditi Samarth, North Lake College
Career Counseling by Joel Riley, Cedar Valley College
Staff Development and Faculty Exchange by Richard McCrary, DCCCD
Workforce Education Initiatives by Van Parker, Tarrant County Community College
Global Education Initiatives by Jesse Jones, North Texas Community and Junior College Consortium
Partnerships with Business by Steve Ellis, Collin County Community College

TAFE NSW Managers Conference

The 1999 TAFE NSW Managers Conference was held May 21, 1999 at the Euro-Asia Rex Hotel in Potts Point, Sydney.  (This area, known as Kings Cross, has come a long way since its time as Australia’s premier red-light district!)  The TAFE NSW Managers Association, a state chapter of the Australian Association of Senior TAFE managers (AUSTAFE), is committed to promoting excellence in vocational education and training.

Paul Hunter, Professor at North Lake College, was the keynote speaker at the TAFE NSW Managers Annual Conference.  His topic was "Innovation in the Global Education Movement."  In just a few years, the World Wide Web has changed the way we study and travel – information and resources once difficult or impossible to find are now easily available from home.  Two Web sites Paul recommends are www.studyabroad.com and
The Stanley Foundation.

Tom Morton, Assistant to the President of North Lake College was the plenary speaker at the TAFE NSW Managers Annual Conference.  His case study was about North Lake College's Nokia Program.

Personal Observations

If you are considering visiting Australia, here’s a list of my firsthand observations:
American English is not the same as Australian English.  We thought we spoke English, but many of the words used by the Australians had to be translated (see the glossary).
Australian higher education is similar to American higher education.  TAFE labs look like our labs and their classrooms look like our classrooms.  Our course descriptions and learning objectives are similar.

 
 
 
Fly Qantas, Australia’s leading brand.  The kangaroo symbol represents a proud history focused on reliability, safety, engineering excellence and customer service.  In January 1999 Qantas was named as the Australian company with the best corporate image by the National Business Bulletin for the 10th consecutive year.
Be careful what you bring in or take out of Australia.  All food, meat, fruit, plants, seeds, wooden souvenirs or anything you think might be a quarantine risk must be declared.  Quarantine laws have protected Australia’s environment and agricultural industries from many potentially devastating pests and diseases.
Visit the Sydney Aquarium, located in Darling Harbour.  We walked through underground viewing tunnels and saw all Australian animals (platypus, fairy penguins, seals, crocodiles) the world famous shark display, and a massive Great Barrier Reef complex.
Modesty isn’t an option if you pack lightly.  I brought one suitcase and my underwear was viewed by one and all, hanging from the hotel patio and myriad clotheslines.  (That’s right, they hang their clothes outside to save energy.)  Just keep that in mind before embarking, and bring the best you own.

 


Finding the necessary adapters for overseas travel and hauling my computer and its appendages was a hassle.  Furthermore, it was quite a shock for me to discover that my college’s email would not work in Australia.  I felt cut off when I couldn’t check my email!

Find out about National Sorry Day.  It will give you insight into the history and culture of Australia.
Open a Hotmail account.  My notebook computer has been a close travel companion for the past couple of years.  It is my means of scanning the web and staying in touch with family, co-workers and friends. My primary need was checking and sending email.
I signed up for Hotmail, a Web-based free email account.  It’s free because advertisers support it.  Thanks to Hotmail, I could easily accomplish checking and sending email wherever I found a serviceable Internet connection and Web browser (such as Netscape Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer).  I didn’t have to try to access my Internet Service Provider (ISP) or reconfigure the settings on my email program. I simply went to http://www.hotmail.com and typed my Login Name and password.  Hotmail features include folders for organizing messages, address books and attachment capability.

Next time, I just might leave my computer at home.  If you are separated from your computer, you can use any computer connected to the Internet to check your Hotmail.  The increased availability of Internet kiosks and public Internet connections in libraries, cafés, airports, colleges and universities makes remote access to Hotmail easy. To find cafes around the world, visit Internet Café Guide, which lists approximately 2,000 cybercafes in more than 100 countries.  You can check up to four POP Mail accounts using your Hotmail account.  If you work for an organization with which you have an email address and you want to use your Hotmail account to send and receive email while away from your computer at work, you are encouraged to do so.

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