UQ launches interactive learning software

The University of Queensland is celebrating the official launch of an innovative software system that helps prepare students for the workforce by giving them experience with real-world situations.

Developed by the University's Centre for Biological Information Technology (CBIT), PBL-Interactive (PBLi) is a problem-based learning package designed to enable teachers, lecturers and others working in training or education, to create and deliver enticing interactive scenarios for students.

Using PBLi scenarios, students can work their way through problems they may expect to face in their chosen profession, applying their knowledge and skills to move through each challenge.

PBLi Business Manager Mr Greg Blackburn said the effectiveness of the software suite had already seen it employed in all publicly owned universities and colleges of education in New Zealand, as well as tertiary institutions in the Philippines and the UK.

"PBLi offers an approach that challenges students to learn through engagement in a real problem," Mr Blackburn said.

"Teachers who use the tool tell us that once they have built their scenarios the responses they receive are universally positive.

"In fact, some teachers are impressed how this learning method has actually helped some students gain a richer understanding of the content material.

"But most importantly, students tell us that PBLi is fun, interactive and engaging. They enjoy the multimedia aspect and especially that problem based learning is not just textbook learning."

Already the software has been used to deliver learning problems and scenarios across a wide range of disciplines and professions that includes health sciences, agriculture, social work, engineering and hospitality and catering.

Mr Blackburn said this versatility was a large part of the PBLi software's appeal, as existing multimedia scenarios are generally expensive, one-off products that cannot easily be adapted to other situations.

"Because it enables educators to develop their own scenarios tailored specifically to their students, the PBLi software can be applied to a wide range of disciplines.

"The PBLi Builder has been designed to make the process of creating problem-based scenarios as simple and easy as possible, allowing scenario authors to focus on the content and let the software do the rest.

"The Builder software requires no programming skills and is very intuitive and easy to use - it can bring together all sorts of multimedia, integrate student testing, provide feedback and track students' progress through a scenario for later analysis."

To celebrate the launch of PBL-Interactive, CBIT is providing a free educational site license to UQ, as well as a free web-based scenario hosting device.

UQ staff who are interested in using this site licence can visit www.pblinteractive.org/uq to download their own free copy of the innovative software.

Based in UQ's Faculty of Biological and Chemical Sciences, CBIT is committed to developing, distributing and supporting commercial quality software for application in biological research training and natural resource management.

Media: For more information contact Lucy Manderson at UQ Communications (07 3365 2339) or Greg Blackburn (07 3365 1872 or g.blackburn@cbit.uq.edu.au).