PUMP Video connected Digital Media VET teachers and students, using the virtual conferencing suite of tools known as "VET Virtual" and other digital media sharing technologies. During the project, students and staff from Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, TAFE Tasmania, and New England Institute in New South Wales met regularly online. Some of the elements of the project were:  -
One of the outcomes of these meetings is the Pump Video E-Zine. There was a competition for the design of the logo, and two issues were developed and released during 2007. The first issue was about starting to share what the different states were doing, and the second issue focused on sharing works students had created for their end-of-year assessments. -
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In planning the E-Zine, the staff and students used a free wikispace to share and develop their ideas. -
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One of the frustrations the teachers and students had during the project was the lack of a tool to support media-rich continuous communication. They might have started conversations during a VET Virtual session, and then had no way to continue those conversations after the meeting had finished. A Joomla-based video sharing system has been set up to solve this. The site allows staff and students to upload video that might be rough cuts, or in-progress work that is not ready for the Pump E-Zine. Then, the community can rate and comment on the videos. -
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After the meetings on VET Virtual, Joe from Tamworth and Steven from Darwin have started working together on creating the online comic strip, Of Men and Gods. What engaged the students most about the project was being able to see what other students in different parts of Australia were doing. There is hope that the collaborations and sharing can keep on growing in 2008.
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