Welcome to Edition 17 of The Knowledge Tree. This is our second edition since we upgraded our layout and navigation. We trust you enjoy our new look and our continued focus on provoking, fostering and capturing in-depth knowledge and debate on e-learning issues and innovative practices through a range of articles, interviews, case studies and forums.

In this edition we look at how industry and RTOs are using e-learning to inspire young learners. Some recurring questions that arise from these contributions:

• What features of e-learning engage young/Gen Y learners?
• Do educators make presumptions about the use of technologies with Gen Y learners?
• How can educators handle the ‘innovation tension’ between being innovative with Web 2.0 technologies engaging young people, and access and duty of care issues?

In the peer reviewed lead article, ‘Everything I need to learn: Engaging youth in online learning’, Bill Wade of Charles Darwin University, NT writes about the contrasts between the boxed content of bygone correspondence-based distance education and the computer-mediated learning engaging young people today. Bill examines a number of key questions, including, ‘What technologies really deliver to young people?’ and, ‘How do we move beyond the next best toy and become authentic innovators?’. Amongst other academic sources, Bill draws upon Danah Boyd’s popular and thought-provoking article, ‘Social Network Sites: Public, Private, or What?’ from Edition 13 of The Knowledge Tree, and the Horizon Report (2008). He also incorporates observations from his involvement with the Mobilizethis series of youth and ICT-focused conferences.

Gary Sewell, Head Teacher of Baking, Hunter Institute in NSW, provides a case study on a successful partnership between Hunter Institute and the baking industry involving e-learning and the fast-tracking of apprentices. You can also view a presentation of Gary’s on this partnership in a recording of ‘Blended Baking’, a web conferencing (Elluminate) session that was part of the ‘e-Exemplars’ mini-online conference of June 2008.

We interview Andrew Williamson, CEO/Principal of Australian Technical College in Sunshine, Victoria. The Australian Technical Colleges are an initiative of the Australian Government that enable Year 11 and 12 students to study for their Year 12 Certificate and start an apprenticeship whilst still at school.

They are intended to raise the profile of vocational education and training (VET) in schools and to be centres of excellence in trade training. Andrew informs us of the progress towards these goals of the Australian Technical College Sunshine, including how the College uses mobile and PDA devices to creatively engage and assess students undergoing workplace training – and how virtual communities like Facebook and MySpace provide a seamless introduction to e-learning.

We also talk to Aaron Pont, Project Leader/Educational Designer with Flex:Ed at the Canberra Institute of Technology. Aaron oversees work on Edu-Versal Studios, a virtual world learning environment that allows students to ‘visit’ a nursing ward. He tells us about the development of Edu-Versal Studios, how such environments have the potential to engage young people, and the likely effect of virtual worlds on the future of education.

Finally, a dynamic panel discussion features the perspectives of Harriet Wakelam (WA), Georgina Nou (SA), Simon Du Bois (NSW) and Tim Davies (UK) on youth and e-learning. The discussion ranges from questions related to the ‘how’ of engaging young people through e-learning, to presumptions we can make about their learning, tensions between Web 2.0 ‘fun’ learning and more formal learning, access and duty of care issues, and the potential of the use of online technologies beyond formal learning and training. As well as some valuable insights from the experienced Australian e-learning practitioners, Tim Davies, a Gen Y blogger and academic from Leicester, UK offers interesting perspectives on the use of social media technologies to empower young people as decision-makers and proponents of social change. The discussion concludes with ideas from the panellists about possible future developments in e-learning for young people.

We hope you enjoy Edition 17 of The Knowledge Tree!