A snapshot of the BEST Network blood typing tutorial

The NBN BEST Network has launched our second project trial with a new Blood Typing Virtual Lab, developed by the Museum of Human Disease. The Virtual Lab has students use standard blood type tests in a virtual laboratory, in a mission to help find the father of the Lab’s leading man, Derek. The trial will continue throughout the year at the Museum of Human Disease. If you would like to bring your students along to tour the Museum of Human Disease and complete the Blood Typing Virtual Lab, please contact the museum here. If you would like to try the Blood Typing Virtual Lab yourself, click on the picture link above.

The NBN BEST Network’s first trial has officially started at Melbourne University this month. The trial will see over 250 first-year medical students access Virtual Slides from the BEST  Network’s Australian Medical Image Bank.  The Virtual Slides are high-resolution, zoom-able microscope images and will be accessed by students both in class at Melbourne University and from home. The trial is an exciting demonstration of NBN BEST Network technology in action!! (more…)

Check out the Museum of Human Disease, UNSW in Sydney Morning Herald article, Virtual lessons bring the world to country students, this month. The article features Bridget Murphy, a Museum of Human Disease Education Officer, connecting to PLC Armidale via high definition video conferencing over the NBN. Bridget dissected a pluck – the heart, lungs and liver of a pig, for a year 9 science class at PLC Armidale.

Smart Sparrow have released a series of help pages, covering the Workspace and Authoring Tool, online. The documentation should help you to explore and master the many features available on the Smart Sparrow platform. To access the help pages, simply follow the link posted below and log-in to your Smart Sparrow account.

https://help.smartsparrow.com/dashboard.action 

If you have any feedback regarding the help pages, please let us know.

The NBN BEST Network Teacher’s Training Day was a great success. We were overwhelmed with your creative ideas, interest and willingness to share your expertise and experiences. Thank you to everyone who came along! If you would like to give your feedback on the day and participate further in the project, please complete our Feedback Adaptive Tutorial.

NBN BEST Network Teacher’s Training Day

The Museum of Human Diseases is hosting a Teacher Training Day for the NBN BEST Network on Thursday 4th October and Friday 5th October 2012. The event is designed to give High School teachers an introduction to the NBN BEST Network project, a first hand experience using Virtual Labs and Adaptive Tutorials and the opportunity to contribute to a High School teacher ‘wish list’, which will help shape the BEST Network project’s future developments. Registration is free and attendance hours will be accredited with the NSW Institute of Teachers standards. The Museum will also provide tea and coffee and a morning tea.

For more information and to register free simply fill out and fax the Teacher’s Training Day Registration Form to (02) 9385 1747.

The Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, announced a $3.3M NBN grant to fund the BEST Network at Sydney’s Opera House. Read more about the project and the Opera House event here.