Background
The VECO online guest program has provided a means of accessing expertise and debating topical issues in a focussed way. In this climate of change since the announcement of the new ECEF, it was timely to find out the current issues that  practitioners involved in Enterprise & Career Education would like to see aired.

To this end, the C3PO email game was played in the general VECO discussion list during May 2001.

1. Phil Kiely - Chair of Board of ECEF - to outline his vision and view of the future directions for the new 'ECEF'.
    
2. Workplacement in a small and/or rural community ie maintaining strong links/ easing the pressure off a limited employer base.
    
3. With the focus now on Enterprise, - how do we organise our VET programs to deliver this? How do we incorporate it into our programs? What structures, frameworks etc. do we need to develop?
    
4. Harris van Beek to speak on the ECEF. New name-new Game? Where are we going and what are the key issues at present.
    
5. Managing Management Committees - Recruitment/ commitment/ motivation etc
    
6. School Based Apprenticeships - why are they so successful in Qld? Why the difference in SA?
    
7. Someone from Commonwealth DETYA to outline the 'Go Careers' initiative that DETYA is conducting, which was also launched in Frankston at the ECEF event.
    
8. Enterprise - at all levels of education.
    
9. ASTF clusters? are they still viable have they fulfilled their task and will their role now return to the schools?
    
10. Liz Schneyder - Deputy Principal Willunga HS in SA - School winner in recent VET Awards (she has now been seconded to DETE in SA to work with Principals) eg flexibility in timetables etc and how to bring about culture change.
     

Challenge - The game begins by stating a challenge. In this instance, the challenge was to find out what members of VECO community would like to see as online guests and topics.

Round 1 (Pooling) - Players send in their ideas - they can send as many as they like. The facilitator then pools all the ideas and send the full list of tips to all the participants.

Round 2 (Polling) - Players (whether or not they contributed to round 1) then choose the 10 ideas that appeal to them most and email their selection to the facilitator by a set date.

Round 3 (Predicting) - The players are invited to predict what they think will be the 3 most popular ideas with the whole group. The person who most accurately predicts the top 3 wins a prize.

Outcome - The outcome is the final list of ideas in order of popularity which can then be used as a basis for planning.

In total 44 people participated in the game with 10 participating in Round 1 generating 30 ideas, 34 voting in Round 2 and 34 voting in Round 3.

One observation of the value of these games is that it gives an opportunity for people to participate who might not usually be comfortable in participating in public discussion.

The Winners
Ian Leerson, from Proserpine Senior High School in Queensland, relative newcomer to VECO, was the winner. He was closely followed up by Sharon Bray from Western Australia and Mick Doyle from ACT. Ian won the wine and Sharon and Mick had to settle for the honour and the glory!

Indeed the game was an excellent way to gather collective views. It was also a great way for encouraging participation in online community activities in a manageable and fun yet non trivial way. 

LearnScope Virtual Learning Community
The LearnScope Virtual Learning Community is for anyone interested in online delivery of courses in the VET context. Whilst it is specifically designed to support the LearnScope funded projects, the Virtual Learning Community is open to anyone. It provides a rich environment in which to learn how to incorporate effective teaching and learning methodologies in the online environment.
http://www.learnscope.anta.gov.au

Voced-coord email list
The voced-coord email list is the main communication tool used by the VECO community.  With around 700 members and an average traffic rate of around 100 messages per month it is a great way to keep in touch with what is happening in the world of Enterprise & Career Education
http://www.veco.ash.org.au/community/voced-coord.asp