CQUniversity Rockhampton staff had fun exploring new technologies that are challenging traditional formats for education, communication and business, at a hands-on workshop conducted by ITD last week.

Sample ipads and iphones were loaned to audience members so they could get a feel for how students might be interacting in the classroom in the not too distant future.

Possible technologies such as iTunesU, which would allow students, staff and the community to download various audio, video and readable materials to their mobile devices, for free, were presented.

Professor Rob Reed, who attended the workshop, said "the newly established Office of Learning and Teaching is working in partnership with Information Technology Directorate staff to develop a shared vision of how best to use new technologies to meet the learning needs of today's students".

A Staff Portal will soon be available for CQuni staff as a ‘one-stop-shop' online environment which staff can tailor to suit individual needs. The Portal has many collaborative networking features and will allow transparent access to multiple systems. Students will also be benefiting from this technology in early 2011.