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Like many other Australian universities, Curtin University identifies intercultural capabilities in its list of graduate attributes. Within this mandate, Curtin is increasingly foregrounding the need for graduates to develop Indigenous cultural capabilities. It is widely recognised that in order to develop these capabilities in graduates, educators at the interface need to embody these capabilities. Similarly, what has become increasingly clear is that it is not only educators but staff across the university that need intercultural skills and understanding in order to move towards a "decolonised" academic environment that will truly support the development of cultural capabilities in graduates. Within the undergraduate curriculum, one of the core principles of developing cultural capabilities is that they are a journey, requiring students to engage with material through a graduated, progressive learning experience. At Curtin, the importance of mirroring this graduated learning journey for staff has been recognized, and in an effort to move from theory towards actualising staff cultural capabilities, the Indigenous Cultural Capabilities Framework' (ICCF) is currently being developed (referred to by these authors as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Capabilities Framework). The Curtin University ICCF aims to map pathways that progress staff in developing cultural capabilities, as well as the measures with which the achievement of these capabilities are assessed. While programs and models to develop staff intercultural capabilities through professional development activities is not new, what appears to be unique with Curtin's ICCF is its attempt to implement a graduated professional developmental program for all levels of staff across a large university. At the conference we discussed, the somewhat messy process of developing and implementing the ICCF, and we also shared a draft of part of the framework.

In the Australian higher education environment, often preoccupied with internationalisation of education and associated issues around intercultural competencies, there is an uncomfortable awareness of the commensurate lack of attention on 'Indigenisation of the curriculum" and the interconnected 'Indigenous cultural competencies". This paper supports the argument that the optimum way for graduates to attain attributes connected to Australian Indigenous cultural competence, is for them to be in a learning environment where the staff they encounter also exhibit these attributes. To achieve success in this sphere, alignment is essential between key policies and plans, staff professional development and curriculum design. Such an alignment will give impetus to resolving the overall lack of knowledge and awareness within Australian universities around Indigenous cultural competence and knowledge. The case of one university presents an example of how this issue is playing out in the Australian tertiary sector.

Studies and commentary from the United States suggest that current undergraduates, part of the so called Net Generation, are high end users of emerging technologies such as mobile devices and new communication tools. This paper reports results from an Australian study of first year undergraduates which confirms these assertions: ownership of laptops, mobile phones and music devices appears to be growing rapidly among this group, along with their use of tools such as instant messaging, blogs and podcasts. Discussion of these results include suggestions as to how teachers of first year undergraduates can incorporate these tools and devices into extramural learning experiences in order to increase engagement and exploit the Net Generation's desire for "connectedness". (Contains 8 tables.)

This paper reports research into undergraduates' adoption of handheld devices as supplementary learning tools. Students enrolled in Engineering and Business in Australia, Ethiopia and Malaysia volunteered to participate in a study of their use of the HP iPAQ from mid-2005 to late-2006. Researchers observed and analysed the participants' commencing levels of technology adoption, and then there subsequent adoption and perceptions of the usefulness of the iPAQ and its Web 2.0 applications to supplement their formal learning experiences. This research addressed three principal questions. The first was about students' commencing level of technology adoption in each location, and whether some students expressed greater interest than others in trying a new technology. The results show that internet access and ownership of all devices were similar for all groups. Some of the other findings were that female students were less likely to be interested in participating in the project (that is, trialling the new technology) than males; Engineering students were more likely to be interested than Business students; and students whose first language was not English were more likely to be interested than those for whom English was a first language. There was also a very marked difference in the level of interest in the three locations. The second and third questions focused on students' adoptive behaviours. For these students, the iPAQ was not a vehicle recommended for learning because, using Roger's reasons for adoption, it was trialable and observable but it failed to meet expectations. Finally, it had little relative advantage as its functions were already delivered somewhat better by desktops, laptops, and mobile phones. It is notable that it was the Ethiopian students who, despite undeveloped ICT infrastructure, were most open to continue to experiment and persist with the device regardless of trying circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]