OEB 2015 - The future is only impossible until it’s achieved - Gilly Salmon

(Moderator) We have with us someone
who has been involved

in digital learning innovation
for more than 20 years

Please welcome the University of Western
Australia Pro Vice-Chancellor

of Education Innovation,
Gilly Salmon (0:12)

(Applause)

(Gilly Salmon) So I'm going to talk to you
about the impossible.

So if you're easily scared,
you can leave now or at any time,

that's OK with me.

So I come from the very young country
of Australia.

Most of you know I'm not Australian, but
I've been living there nearly 5 years now.

Probably another 20 .... except me (check)

But in the young country of Australia,
a university that's 100-years old

is very, very, very old.

So, and now, the University of Western
Australia is very, very old.

It's a research-intensive, one with the
most schools and campuses in the world,

on the mouth of the Swan River,
in Western Australia,

and I'm going to show you a 1-minute movie
to get a glimpse of our environment

and also our dreams.

So, you need to watch very carefully,
because I'm going to talk about

the brief glimpse you get of the buildings
because that's where my center is,

the Centre for Education Future.

So, we will move to the movie, please.

(strong-beat music)

(shouts)

(panting)

(narrator) When we start moving forward,
the world starts with us.

(strong wind in branches - panting)

(narrator) So chase your dream.
It's only impossible until it's done.

[Pursue impossible]

[The University of Western Australia]

(Applause)
(Salmon) Thank you. 2:52

We made that movie to try and inspire
our students

but we actually found it inspires us
even more.

So, right at the beginning you saw
some work for

University of Western Australia
are true heritage buildings.

And I -- in there, we've put
a future's observatory

and a learning design studio,
to try and inspire the impossible

in both our faculty members and ultimately
our students, to new design.

So, I've got this weird job title,

Pro Vice-Chancellor
Education Innovation.

I'm sure when I was appointed,
just over 12 months ago,

nobody knew what that meant.

Fortunately, they did allow me to
invent it.

While you're listening to me,
just to say there's going to be

a bit of a poll at the end.

If you got the My OEB app,
you can look it up,

if not, there is a website,
there is a link there up,

so that you can take part in the poll
in a bit.

Now, I actually think an incredible
number of words have been written

about innovation, especially in the scope
of educational innovation

and disruptive technology.

And I did a bit of a survey.

i wasn't as knowledgeable
as some of those people

that you've just heard speaking,

but it was rather odd that probably
one of the very top things

that you can see, was how to promote
innovation

in the changing modes of teaching,

which I think is probably
one of our biggest challenges of all.

And actually, creating an evidence base
for that,

because you all know, in universities,
that's the way it goes:

If you haven't got evidence for it,
it doesn't exist.

And so, we did a bit of a survey;
there were the top universities,

we did some visits as well, in the US
as well as other parts in the world.

And everyone, just everyone has still
really not got into

achieving true innovation.

And so for me, that's
still a bit of a mystery, and I think

it's really rather extraordinary that
everyone in education,

all of you, at every level,
is trying to do this

and yet most organizations,
most institutions

are still striving to reorientate
themselves to an innovation culture. 5:46