Michael Chalk appears on television: A House around the Corner

So, recently I was on television, in my role as an ‘e-learning specialist’! (channel 31) Being interviewed was a bit scary, but the wonderful team at “A House around the Corner” have edited the whole thing very well. Definitely worth following their youtube feed, as there’s plenty of other great stories about LearnLocal in Victoria. (Edit: the site seems to be down in 2017.)

Context is everything: e-learning face-to

“We’re so far off online learning,” said one manager to me, implying that it was so difficult we shouldn’t even bother. My first response was to bring it all back to the classroom. “Online learning is only one part of e-learning,” I replied. I think people still see the two terms as identical, which is a problem. E-learning, step 1: some kind of technology in your face-to-face situation. For example, taking photographs on an excursion, or recording audio from student presentations. Having access to a local network drive folder for Read More …

An interview with Carmen Harris

Recently I spoke with Carmen Harris from Yooralla adult education. Carmen was involved in the North-West e-learning mentor projects back in 2011. She told me all about the amazing work they’ve been doing with literacy and technology over there, including blogs, facebook, email lists and zines. You can listen to the interview right here. I was aiming to edit down to 5-8 minutes, but Carmen just kept on saying interesting things. Highly recommended for an insight into creative classroom practices. [Tech notes:] We spoke over Skype and I recorded the call using Read More …

New e-learning mentor projects underway

Exciting news. The next round of Victorian ACE / LearnLocal e-learning mentor projects (aka “e-mentor”) have begun. Projects are conducted according to adult education regions around Victoria**. And because each regional mentor team has their own online presence such as a blog or wiki, we’re looking for ways to tie all the headline threads together. So i’m conducting an experiment with a Yahoo RSS joiner called “Pipes”. Here’s a scrolling feed of the latest headlines. Now to see if i can display multiple headlines without scrolling… [rss-news-display setting=”1″]   I’ve Read More …

Brad Beach on Online Facilitation (15Aug)

Here’s one that’s too good to miss: via the TDC (Tafe Devt Corp), Brad Beach from GippsTafe talks about Online Facilitation. Brad has been one of the truly significant leaders in this field for some time, and GippsTafe have run great workshops in online facilitation. Online facilitation is one of the major skillsets that i think people often overlook as they get into setting up online communities and networks. Whether it’s real time web-conferencing (synchronous) or round-the-clock discussion forums (asynchronous), there are many strategies you can collect and develop to help Read More …

North West region “community of practice”

Victoria Market I’ve just met with some wonderful teachers and managers of the North-West region and Sue O’Brien of the NW ACFE regional office, in at the AMES “Multicultural Hub” opposite the Victoria Market. From the agenda, i was expecting to give a presentation with an overview of blended learning, and some examples of who’s doing it around the regions. Because it was about 10 of us around a table, the session quickly turned into a conversation where i hope most people had some input. We tackled the really fundamental Read More …

E-learning at Carlton in focus

Here’s our latest guest blogger: Sarah Deasey from Carlton NLC. Thanks so much Sarah, and welcome (michael).  Hello this is Sarah. I am the Further Education coordinator at CNLC. There have been many opportunities for development of basic computer and online skills in the last 10 years or more. Past projects include: Skillsnet funding in the Nineties for broad community training; a telematics trust  grant for disability students; and various grants through the flexible learning framework. Most staff have taken up the opportunities with goodwill and a range of enthusiasm.  Read More …

Getting started

Consider your e-learning needs First thing to do is take a look at your own teaching/learning or centre/course management practices and decide where and how you may want to improve them using e-learning strategies such as: networking with others in your field communicating in real time online storing and sharing resources creating or sourcing innovative learning resources exploring relevant web 2.0 tools for specific purposes getting help with an e-learning project setting up a learning management system Then consider how you are feeling and what you are currently doing in Read More …